p*«~Vf  j*^ 


IV 


iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiinitiiiiiiiiiili 


R08T.T.  MOFFATT,  D.M.D., 
85  NEWBURY  STREET, 

BOSTON, 

b,  R  i 


THE   NEW 
GLUTTON    OR    EPICURE 


HORACE    FLETCHER'S    WORKS 


THE  A.  B.-Z.  OF  OUR  OWN  NU- 
TRITION. 450  pp.  Just  issued. 

THE  NEW  MENTICULTURE;  OR, 
THE  A-B-C  OF  TRUE  LIVING.  Forti- 
eth thousand.  310  pp. 

THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPI- 
CURE ;  OR,  ECONOMIC  NUTRITION. 
344  pp.  Just  issued. 

HAPPINESS  AS  FOUND  IN  FORETHOUGHT 
MINUS  FEARTHOUGHT.  Tenth  thou- 
sand. 251  pp. 

THAT  LAST  WAIF;  OR,  SOCIAL 
QUARANTINE.  270  pp. 


THE 

NEW  GLUTTON 


OR 


EPICURE 


BY 

HORACE   FLETCHER 


NEW   YORK 

FREDERICK   A.  STOKES    COMPANY 
'905 


COPYRIGHT,    1899,    1903 
BY     HORACE     FLETCHER 


Published  November,  1903 


THE    UNIVERSITY    PRESS 
CAMBRIDGE      •        U.  S.  A. 


"R  M  UNIVERSITY  OP  CALIFORNIA 

SANTA  BAfiBAKA  COLL 


PREFACE 

The  original  "  Glutton  or  Epicure  " 
has  been  completely  revised  and  much 
enlarged,  including  considerable  new 
matter  added  in  the  form  of  testimony 
by  competent  investigators,  which  con- 
firms the  original  claims  of  the  book 
and  supplements  them  with  important 
suggestions. 

The  "  New  Glutton  or  Epicure  "  is 
now  issued  as  a  companion  volume  to 
the  "A.B.-Z.  of  Our  Own  Nutrition,"  in 
the  "A.  B.C.  Series,"*  and  is  intended  to 
broaden  the  illustration  of  the  necessity 
of  dietetic  economy  in  the  pursuit  of  an 
easy  way  to  successful  living,  in  a  man- 
ner calculated  to  appeal  to  a  variety  of 
readers ;  and  wherein  it  may  suggest  the 
scrappiness  and  extravagance  of  an  in- 
temperate screed,  the  author  joins  in 


vi  PREFACE 

the  criticism  of  the  purists  and  offers  in 
apology  the  excuse  that  so-called  screeds 
sometimes  attract  attention  where  more 
sober  statement  fails  to  be  heard. 

Especial  attention  is  invited  to  the 
"  Explanation  of  the  A.B.C.  Series,"  at 
the  back  of  this  volume,  as  showing  the 
desirability  of  regard  for  environment  in 
all  its  phases;  and  also  to  the  section, 
"  Tell-tale  Excreta,"  on  page  142,  an 
evidence  of  right  or  faulty  feeding  per- 
sistently neglected  heretofore,  but  of 
utmost  importance  in  a  broad  study  of 
the  nutrition  problem. 

The  professional  approval  of  Drs.  Van 
Someren,  Higgins,  Kellogg,  and  Dewey, 
representing  wide  differences  of  points 
of  view  and  opportunity  of  application, 
are  most  valuable  contributions  to  the 
subject.  The  confirmation  of  high 
physiological  authority  strengthens  this 
professional  endorsement.  The  testi- 
mony of  lay  colleagues  given  is  equally 
valuable  and  comes  from  widely  sepa- 
rated experiences,  and  from  observers 


PREFACE  vii 

whose  evidence  carries  great  weight. 
The  commandante  of  a  battleship  cruis- 
ing in  foreign  waters  and  representing 
the  national  descent  of  Luigi  Cornaro ; 
a  general  manager  of  one  of  the  largest 
insurance  companies  of  the  world;  a 
cosmopolitan  artist  of  American  farm 
birth  and  French  matrimonial  choice 
and  residence  ;  and  a  distinguished  don 
vivant,  each  with  a  world  of  experience, 
testifying  in  their  own  manner  of  expres- 
sion, is  appreciated  as  most  valuable 
assistance  to  the  cause  of  economic 
dietetic  reform. 

During  the  original  experiments  in 
Chicago,  and  in  Dayton,  Ohio,  the  origi- 
nator was  much  indebted  to  James  H. 
Lacey,  Esquire,  of  New  Orleans,  La., 
and  Cedar  Rapids,  for  helpful  sugges- 
tions, which  his  early  training  as  a 
pharmaceutical  chemist  rendered  him 
able  to  give. 

There  are  also  numerous  altruistic, 
self-sacrificing  women,  who  have  been 
active  colleagues  of  the  author  in  testing 


Vlli  PREFACE 

the  virtues  of  an  economic  nutrition,  and 
who  have  greatly  assisted  in  making 
the  economy  an  added  new  pleasure  of 
life,  instead  of  being  a  restraint  or  a  de- 
privation. This  is  accomplished  easily 
by  a  change  of  attitude  towards  the  ques- 
tion, and  in  such  reform  women  must 
have  an  important  part  to  play.  To 
their  kindly  meant,  but  hygienically  un- 
wise, aggressive  hospitality,  in  begging 
friends  to  eat  and  drink  more  than  they 
want,  just  to  satisfy  their  own  generous 
impulses,  is  due  much  of  the  milder 
gluttony  that  is  prevalent. 

Imposition  upon  the  body  of  any 
excess  of  food  or  drink  is  one  of  the 
most  dangerous  and  far-reaching  of  self- 
abuses;  because  whatever  the  body  has 
no  need  of  at  the  moment  must  be  gotten 
rid  of  at  the  expense  of  much  valuable 
energy  taken  away  from  brain-service. 
Hence  it  is  that  when  there  is  intestinal 
constipation  the  energy-reserve  is  low- 
ered enormously,  and  even  where  there 
is  no  painful  obstruction,  the  mere  pas- 


PREFACE  ix 

sage  of  waste  through  some  twenty  to 
twenty-five  feet  of  convoluted  intestinal 
canal  is  a  great  tax  upon  available  mental 
and  physical  power;  and  this  disability 
is  often  imposed  on  innocent  men  by 
well-meaning  women  in  the  exercise  of 
a  too  aggressive  hospitality. 

Mention  of  constipation  suggests  an- 
other reference  to  one  of  the  specially 
new  features  of  this  discussion,  insisted 
upon  by  a  truly  economic  and  aesthetic 
nutrition,  and  herein  lifted  out  of  the 
depths  of  a  morbid  prejudice  to  testify 
to  the  necessity  of  care  in  the  manner 
of  taking  food  for  the  maintenance  of 
a  respectable  self-respect.  So  firmly 
rooted  is  the  fallacy  that  a  daily  gener- 
ous defecation  is  necessary  to  health 
that  less  frequent  periodicity  is  looked 
upon  with  alarm,  whereas  a  normally 
economic  nutrition  is  proven  by  greater 
infrequency,  accompanied  by  an  entire 
absence  of  difficulty  in  defecating  and  by 
escape  from  the  usual  putridity  due  to 
the  necessity  of  bacterial  decomposition. 


X  PREFACE 

To  illustrate  the  prevailing  ignorance 
relative  to  this  most  important  necessity 
of  self-care,  and  also  a  traditional  preju- 
dice, even  among  physicians,  the  follow- 
ing extract  from  a  letter  just  received  is 
given :  "  You  ask  me  to  define  more 
exactly  what  I  mean  by  constipation ; 
this  is  not  at  all  difficult ;  I  mean  skip- 
ping a  day  in  having  a  call  to  stool. 
There  was  no  trouble  about  it,  and  the 
quantity  was  not  large,  but  when  I  men- 
tioned it  to  my  doctor  he  advised  me  to 
stop  chewing  if  it  interfered  with  the 
regular  daily  stools.  I  must  confess  that 
I  never  felt  so  well  as  while  I  was  chew- 
ing and  sipping,  instead  of  the  hasty 
bolting  and  gulping  which  one  is  apt  to 
do  on  thoughtless  or  busy  occasions,  but 
I  don't  think  it  is  worth  while  for  a  chap 
to  monkey  with  his  hygienic  department 
when  he  is  employing  a  professional 
regularly  to  tell  him  the  latest  kink 
about  health."  To  this  surprising  state 
of  ...  the  evidence  of  "professionals" 
like  Van  Someren,  Kellogg,  Higgins, 


PREFACE  xi 

and  Dewey,  as  well  as  that  of  the  great 
men  of  physiology  who  have  spoken 
herein,  and  in  the  "  A.B.-Z.  of  Our  Own 
Nutrition,"  gives  hopeful  answer,  but 
suggests  a  warning. 

The  author  has  noticed  that  imme- 
diately folk  begin  to  give  attention  to 
any  new  regime  relative  to  diet,  exercise, 
mental  discipline,  or  whatever  else,  they 
begin  to  charge  all  unusual  happenings 
to  the  change  of  habit,  whereas  before 
the  same  things  were  common  but  un- 
noticed. Even  among  men  of  scientific 
habit  of  thought,  unduly  constipated  by 
stale  conservatism,  the  old,  old  corpse  of 
tradition,  "  The  accumulated  experience 
of  the  whole  race  must  be  correct,"  is 
revived  and  used  in  argument  conten- 
tiously;  but  to  this  relapse  into  non- 
scientific  reasoning  comes  the  reply: 
"  If  the  accumulated  experience  of  the 
human  race  is  evidence  that  crime  and 
disease  are  natural,  then  disease  and 
crime  are  good  things  and  should  not 
be  discouraged." 


xii  PREFACE 

There  are  many  sorts  of  constipation, 
the  worst  of  which  are  constipation  of 
affection,  of  appreciation,  of  gratitude, 
and  of  all  the  constructive  virtues  which 
constitute  true  altruism.  Let  us  avoid 
sinning  in  this  regard!  In  pursuit  of 
this  thought  the  following  is  apropos  : 

SPECIAL  RECOGNITION 

The  author  wishes  here,  also,  to  ex- 
press gratitude  to  many  who  have  not 
figured  by  name  in  the  "  A.B.-Z.,"  or 
elsewhere  herein,  but  whose  assistance, 
encouragement,  criticism,  and  example 
have  helped  the  cause  along  in  one  way 
or  another.  Of  these  many  friends  a 
few  are  quickly  recalled,  but  not  neces- 
sarily in  the  order  of  their  friendly  ser- 
vice. To  John  H.  Patterson,  Esquire,  of 
Dayton,  Ohio ;  Col.  James  F.  O'Shaugh- 
nessy,  of  New  York ;  Stewart  Chisholm, 
Esquire,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio ;  Fred  E. 
Wadsworth,  Esquire,  of  Detroit,  Michi- 
gan ;  and  Henry  C.  Butcher,  Esquire,  of 
Philadelphia,  are  due  much  for  encour- 


PREFACE  xin 

agement  in  pursuing  the  investigation 
at  critical  moments  of  the  struggle ;  as 
well  as  to  Hon.  William  J.  Van  Patten, 
of  Burlington,  Vermont,  whose  interest 
in  the  "A.B.C.  Series  "  began  with  "  Men- 
ticulture  "  and  has  continued  unabated. 
In  Dr.  Swan  M.  Burnett,  of  Washing- 
ton, D.  C,  has  been  enjoyed  a  mentor 
with  great  scientific  discrimination  and 
a  sympathy  in  the  refinements  of  art  and 
sentiment,  as  expressed  in  Japanese  aes- 
thetic civilisation,  which  has  been  ex- 
tremely encouraging  and  most  inspiring 
in  relation  to  the  whole  A.B.C.  idea. 

From  Gervais  Kerr,  Esquire,  of  Ven- 
ice, came  one  of  the  important  sugges- 
tions incorporated  in  the  A.B.-Z.  Primer; 
and  the  young  Venetian  artist,  E.  C. 
Leon  Boehm,  rendered  great  service  in 
studying  habits  of  dietetics  among  the 
peoples  of  the  Balkan  Peninsular,  in 
Turkey,  along  the  Dalmatian  Coast,  and 
in  Croatia. 

Prof.  William  James,  of  Harvard 
University,  in  his  Gifford  Lectures  at 


xiv  PREFACE 

the  University  of  Edinburg,  Scotland, 
published  under  the  title  of  "  The  Va- 
rieties of  Religious  Experience,"  gave 
the  practical  reformatory  effort  of  the 
"  A. B.C.  Series "  a  great  impetus  by 
quoting  approvingly  from  "Menticul- 
ture  "  and  "  Happiness."  Coming  from 
a  teacher  of  philosophy  and  psychology, 
with  a  physiological  training  and  an 
M.D.  degree  to  support  the  approval, 
recognition  is  much  appreciated ;  but, 
in  addition  to  his  published  utterances, 
Dr.  James  has  followed  the  psycho- 
physiological  studies  of  the  movement 
with  interest,  and  has  given  much  valued 
encouragement. 

This  does  not  begin  to  complete  the 
list  of  those  to  whom  the  author  owes  a 
debt  of  especial  gratitude.  The  argus- 
eyed  vigilance  of  the  collectors  and 
doctors  of  world-news,  who  mould  public 
opinion  in  a  great  measure,  has  brought 
to  the  cause  of  dietetic  reform  estab- 
lished upon  an  aesthetic  basis  their 
kindly  assistance,  but,  as  usual,  they 


PREFACE  XV 

prefer  to  remain  incog.  In  this  seclu- 
sion, however,  Ralph  D.  Blumenfeld, 
Esquire,  of  London,  and  Roswell  Martin 
Field,  Esquire,  of  Chicago,  cannot  be  in- 
cluded ;  neither  can  Charles  Jay  Taylor, 
the  originator  of  the  Taylor-Maid  girl. 
James  P.  Reilly,  Esquire,  of  New  York, 
has  lightened  the  labours  of  the  investi- 
gator, and  has  strengthened  his  arm  in 
many  ways ;  as  have  also  Messrs.  B.  F. 
Stevens  and  Brown,  of  London,  not 
alone  as  most  efficient  agents,  but  as 
friends  interested  in  the  cause  in  hand. 
In  the  various  books  of  the  series  oppor- 
tunity has  occurred  to  express  apprecia- 
tion of  many  sympathetic  friendships, 
and  in  heart  and  memory  they  hold  per- 
petual carnival.  To  Major  Thomas  E. 
Davis,  of  the  New  Orleans  Picayune,  is 
due  more  than  mere  expression  of  grati- 
tude for  excellent  editorials  on  our  sub- 
ject; and  across  the  ocean,  Sir  Thomas 
Barlow,  the  private  physician  of  King 
Edward  VII,  Dr.  Leonard  Huxley,  Prof. 
Alfred  Marshall,  of  Cambridge  Univer- 


xvi  PREFACE 

sity,  arid  Reginald  Barratt,  Esquire,  of 
London,  have  been  most  sympathetic 
and  assistful.  On  both  sides  of  the 
waters,  William  Dana  Orcutt,  Esquire, 
of  The  University  Press,  Cambridge, 
Massachusetts,  and  Frederick  A.  Stokes, 
Esquire,  of  New  York,  have  added  friend- 
ship for  the  cause  to  much  appreciated 
practical  assistance. 

These  and  many  others  are  preferred- 
creditors  of  gratitude,  in  addition  to 
those  whose  mention  is  embodied  else- 
where in  the  various  books  of  the 
"  Series." 

As  attempted  to  be  shown  in  the 
"  A.B.-Z.,"  under  the  caption  "  Bunching 
Hits  and  Personal  Umpiring,"  this 
study  of  menticulture  from  the  basis  of 
economic  and  epicurean  nutrition,  in 
connection  with  a  purified  exterior  and 
interior  environment,  is  "  team-work,"  as 
in  football,  cricket,  or  base-ball,  and  a 
laudable  enthusiasm  is  an  important 
feature  of  the  game ;  hence,  to  conclude, 
this  especial  book,  being  a  personal  con- 


PREFACE  xvn 

fession,  relaxation,  effusion,  expansion, 
as  it  were,  of  the  practical  benefits  of 
economic  body  nutrition  and  menti- 
nutrition,  it  seems  the  appropriate  place 
to  offer  personal  tribute  outside  and 
inside  the  intimate  family  relations,  as 
freely  as  menticultural  impulse  may 
suggest. 

HORACE   FLETCHER. 


PREFACE 
TO   1906  EDITIONS 

SINCE  the  former  introductions  were  written 
much  success  has  been  attained  in  further  ad- 
vancing the  reforms  advocated  in  the  A.  B.  C. 
Life  Series.  Professor  Chittenden  has  pub- 
lished his  report  on  the  Yale  experiments  in 
book  form  in  both  America1  and  England,2 
and  his  results  have  been  accepted  in  scientific 
circles  the  world  over  as  authoritatively  con- 
clusive. 

At  the  present  writing  the  most  important 
Health  Boards  of  Eu rope  3  are  planning  to  put  the 
new  standards  of  dietary  economy  into  practical 
use  among  public  charges  in  a  manner  that  can 
only  result  in  benefit  to  the  wards  of  the  nations 
as  well  as  make  an  important  saving  to  the  tax- 
payers. In  the  most  important  of  these  foreign 
public  health  departments  the  Health  Officer  of 
the  Board  has  himself  practised  the  newly  es- 
tablished economy  for  two  years,  and  his  plans 

1  Physiological  Economy  in  Nutrition  :   The  Frederick  A. 
Stokes  Company,  New  York. 

2  William  Heinemann  :    London. 

8  The  author  is  not  yet  permitted  to  publish  the  particulars 
of  these  reforms  in  process,  but  he  has  official  information 
regarding  them  and  is  in  full  sympathy  with  them. 


xx  PREFACE 

are  formulated  on  personal  experience  which 
fully  confirms  Professor  Chittenden's  report  and 
that  of  the  author  as  herein  related. 

At  a  missionary  agricultural  college,  situated 
near  Nashville,  Tenn.,  where  the  students  earn 
their  tuition  and  their  board  while  pursuing 
their  studies,  a  six  months'  test  of  what  is  termed 
"  Fletcherism  "  resulted  in  a  saving  of  about  one 
half  of  the  drafts  on  the  commissary,  immunity 
from  illness,  increased  energy,  strength  and  en- 
durance, and  general  adoption  of  the  suggestions 
published  in  the  several  books  of  the  author  in- 
cluded in  the  A.  B.  C.  Life  Series. 

In  the  various  departments  and  branches  of 
the  Battle  Creek  Sanitarium  in  America,  and 
widely  scattered  over  the  world,  some  eight 
hundred  employees  and  thousands  of  patients 
have  been  accumulating  evidence  of  the  efficacy 
of  "  Fletcherism  "  for  more  than  three  years,  and 
scarce  a  month  passes  without  a  letter  from  Dr. 
Kellogg  to  the  author  containing  new  testimony 
confirming  the  A.  B.  C.  selections  and  sug- 
gestions. 

The  author  has  received  within  the  past  two 
years  more  than  a  thousand  letters  bearing  the 
approval  of  the  writers  with  report  of  benefits 
received  which  seem  almost  miraculous,  and 
these  include  the  leaders  in  many  branches 
of  human  occupation  —  physiologists,  surgeons, 


PREFACE  xxi 

medical  practitioners,  artists,  business  men,  lit- 
erary workers,  athletes,  working  men  and  women, 
and  almost  every  degree  of  mental  and  physical 
activity. 

One  of  the  medical  advisers  of  King  Edward, 
of  whom  the  King  once  said  :  "  He  is  a  splendid 
doctor  but  a  poor  courtier,"  follows  the  sugges- 
tions of  these  books  in  prescribing  to  his 
sumptuous  clients. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

PREFACE   i 

SPECIAL  RECOGNITION xii 

THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    ....  i 
THE  PERSONAL  CASE  AND  ENDORSEMENT  OF 

DR.  ERNEST  VAN  SOMEREN 10 

EXPERIMENTS  UPON  HUMAN  NUTRITION.    NOTE 
BY  SIR  MICHAEL  FOSTER,  K.  C.  B.,  M.  P., 

F.R.S 18 

PROFESSOR   CHITTENDEN'S   REPORT   ON   THE 

AUTHOR 25 

•VARSITY-CREW  EXERCISES  UNDER   DR.  WIL- 
LIAM G.  ANDERSON,  OF  YALE  UNIVERSITY 

GYMNASIUM 32 

THE  ATWATER-BENEDICT  CALORIMETER-MEAS- 
UREMENT      39 

MILITARY-SCIENTIFIC  COOPERATION  ....  42 

DR.  KELLOGG'S  APPRECIATION 46 

EXTRACTS  FROM  DR.  EDWARD  HOOKER  DEWEY  73 

AN  AGREEABLE  ENDURANCE  TEST  ....  84 

EDWARD  VV.  REDFIELD'S  EVIDENCE  ....  90 

GENERAL  OBSERVATIONS 101 

OUR  NATURAL  GUARDIANS                             .  106 


xxiv  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

OBJECTIONS  CONSIDERED 117 

THE  MIND  POWER-PLANT 132 

TELL-TALE  EXCRETA 142 

SCIENTIFIC  OBSERVATION  OF  A  LITERARY  TEST- 
SUBJECT      147 

WHAT  SENSE?    TASTE 151 

DR.  MONKS,  BOSTON  ;   AND   PROF.  METCHNI- 

KOFF,  PARIS;  —  ELONGATED  INTESTINES     .  176 

AUTHOR'S  PERSONAL  EXPERIENCE    .     .     .     .  188 

SOME  PERTINENT  QUERIES 195 

IMPORTANT  CONFIRMATION  : 

COMMANDANTS  CESARE  AGNELLI  ....  206 

CLARENCE  F.  Low,  ESQUIRE 211 

A  FIVE  YEARS'  LAY  EXPERIENCE  : 

BARON  PVANDOLPH  NATILI 215 

DR.  HUBERT  HIGGINS'  CASE  AND  COMMENT  .  226 

QUARANTINE 236 

GIVE  THE  BABIES  A  CHANCE 265 

"MUNCHING  PARTIES"  AND  THE  "CHEWING 

FAD" 270 

SPECIMEN  ECONOMIC  DINNER      .,    .     .     .     .  283 
DIET  IN  THE  YALE  EXAMINATION  OF  THE  AU- 
THOR          ....  296 

INFLUENCE  OF  SUGGESTION 300 

"  FLETCHERISING  :  "  COMPLETE  MEANING  .     .  308 

EXPLANATION  OF  THE  A.  B.  C.  SERIES     .     .  315 


THE   NEW 

GLUTTON   OR   EPICURE   1 

It  is  now  five  years  since  the  first 
section  of  this  crude  little  announce- 
ment of  a  great  physiological  discovery 
was  published ;  and  while  the  author 
has  spent  all  the  intervening  years  in 
unremitting  study  of  the  subject  of 
which  it  treats,  with  the  heads  of  many 
of  the  great  physiological  laboratories  of 
the  world  assisting  him  with  their  best 
facilities  and  information,  as  to  the 
"reasons  for  things,"  there  is  but  small 
correction  to  make. 

This  does  not  imply  that  the  "last 
word  "  upon  the  subject  has  been  herein 
stated,  or  that  corrections  may  not  be 
made  as  the  study  progresses,  but  it 
means,  that  as  an  honest  description  of 
an  effort  to  get  to  understand  the  natural 


2     THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

requirements  in  our  own  nutrition,  it  is 
perhaps  better  put  than  the  same  author 
could  now  do;  that  is,  if  intended  for 
the  enlightenment  of  persons  whose  curi- 
osity has  not  yet  been  excited,  or  whose 
interest  in  their  nutritive  welfare  is  still 
young  and  inexperienced. 

With  regard  to  the  statement  that 
"  whatever  has  no  taste  is  not  nutri- 
tious," copied  from  a  high  educational 
authority,  correction  certainly  must  be 
made.  Pure  proteid  has  no  perceptible 
taste  as  measured  by  taste-bud  appre- 
ciation, any  more  than  pure  water  has 
specific  taste,  and  yet  who  may  not  say 
that  "  water  tastes  good "  when  one  is 
really  thirsty.  Taste  is  a  very  subtle 
sense  and  is  closely  allied  to  feeling. 
Things  are  often  said  to  taste  good 
because  they  feel  good  in  the  mouth  or 
to  the  throat  as  they  descend  to  the 
stomach. 

Regarding  also  the  advice  to  remove 
from  the  mouth  refractory  substance  that 
the  teeth  and  saliva  cannot  reduce  to  a 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE      3 

condition  to  excite  the  Swallowing  Im- 
pulse. There  is  theoretical  and  actual 
nutriment  in  the  cottony  fibre  of  tough 
lobster,  or  poor  fish,  or  lean  pork,  and 
there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  a 
strong  digestive  apparatus  can  take  care 
of  such  tough  substance  after  a  fashion 
and  get  nutriment  out  of  it.  In  the 
same  way  the  hard,  woody  fibre  of  old 
nuts  is  the  identical  material  that  was 
rich  in  juicy  oils  and  proteid  when  the 
nuts  were  fresh,  but  if  swallowed  in  the 
toughened  condition  that  age  brings  to 
nuts,  it  is  but  slowly  reduced  in  the 
stomach  and  intestines  and  only  at  enor- 
mous expense.  If  putrif active  bacterial 
decomposition  has  to  be  resorted  to  to 
get  rid  of  the  stuff  the  process  is  then 
poisonous  as  well  as  difficult. 

According  to  physiological  authority 
which  we  must,  for  the  moment,  accept, 
proteid  is  a  vitally-necessary  material 
and  we  cannot  afford  to  waste  it.  Our 
life  depends  upon  proteid  to  replace  the 
waste  of  muscular  tissue  which  occurs 


4    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

with  every  movement,  but  when  even 
good  proteid  is  found  by  the  mouth  to 
be  in  a  form  that  is  too  refractory  for 
the  teeth  to  handle,  it  is  poor  policy  to 
send  it  on  to  the  toothless  stomach  and 
intestines  for  the  accomplishment  of  the 
reduction.  If  the  mouth  cannot  handle 
what  its  guardian  senses  don't  like,  it 
can  spit  it  out  and  get  rid  of  it  immedi- 
ately; but  if  the  stomach  or  intestines 
are  afflicted  with  something  that  is 
harder  than  they  can  easily  take  care  of, 
they  have  to  call  in  the  assistance  of 
bacterial  scavengers  whose  method  is 
poisonous  decomposition,  and  whose  fee 
is  putridity  of  odour  penetrating  the 
whole  system  and  issuing  at  every  pore, 
making  Cologne  water  a  large  com- 
modity even  in  so-called  Polite  Society. 
There  are  discernible  in  the  mouth 
distinct  senses  of  discrimination  against 
substance  that  is  undesirable  for  the 
system.  If  the  mouth  senses  are  per- 
mitted to  express  an  opinion,  their  an- 
tipathy is  easily  read.  It  is  far  safer  to 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     5 

spit  out  what  the  natural  impulse  of 
swallowing  hesitates  at,  or  fails  to  suck 
up  with  avidity,  than  it  is  to  force  a 
swallowing  to  get  rid  of  it  simply  to 
satisfy  a  prudish  "  table  manner "  ob- 
jection. To  avoid  "  impolite  "  condem- 
nation we  really  make  "hogs  of  ourselves" 
"  on  the  sly,"  and  vulgar  slang  alone  is 
appropriate  to  express  the  shameful 
confession. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  if  one  faithfully 
practise  mouth  thoroughness  in  con- 
nection with  all  his  food  for  a  term  of  a 
few  weeks,  he  will  find  that  the  appetite 
ceases  to  invite  the  sort  of  things  that 
have  to  be  spit  out.  The  appetite  grad- 
ually but  unfailingly  inclines  to  foods 
that  are  profitable  all  the  way  through, 
and  in  which  there  is  little  or  no  waste. 
This  revelation  alone  shows  a  delicate 
usefulness  of  Appetite  that  has  escaped 
students  of  the  human  senses. 

In  the  matter  of  the  insalivation  of 
liquids,  evidence  continues  to  accumulate 
to  show  that  in  the  present  prevalence 


6    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

of  liquid  or  soft  foods  lies  the  great  dan- 
ger to  the  digestive  economy  of  man. 
Through  them,  mouth  work  becomes 
neglected,  and  the  tendency  is  to  force 
the  stomach  and  intestines  to  take  on 
the  work  of  the  powerful  mouth  muscles 
and  glands  in  addition  to  their  own 
work,  and  in  the  straining  that  ensues 
trouble  begins. 

There  is  now  no  doubt  but  that  taste 
is  evidence  of  a  chemical  process  going 
on  that  should  not  be  interrupted  or 
transferred  to  the  interior  of  the  body. 
Tried  upon  milk  for  so  long  a  period  as 
seventeen  days,  during  which  nothing 
was  taken  but  milk,  not  even  water, 
thorough  insalivation  secured  more  than 
a  twenty-five  per  cent  economy  in  actual 
assimilation ;  not  alone  with  one  subject, 
but  with  no  less  than  five  persons,  living 
on  milk  from  the  same  cow,  and  all  of 
whose  strict  test  history  was  recorded. 
It  seems  also  to  be  the  only  way  in 
which  a  practically  odourless  solid  ex- 
creta is  obtainable,  and  this  is  certainly 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     7 

evidence  worth  considering  and  a  de- 
sideratum worth  striving  for. 

While  it  is  an  excellent  thing  to 
give  thorough  mouth  attention  to  any- 
thing taken  into  the  body,  to  solids 
alone,  even  if  liquids  are  neglected,  the 
best  economic  and  cleanly  results  are 
only  obtained  when  all  substances,  both 
liquid  and  solid,  are  either  munched  or 
tasted  out  of  existence,  as  it  were,  and 
have  been  absorbed  into  a  waiting  and 
willing  body;  a  body  with  an  earned 
appetite. 

With  liquids  one  simply  has  to  do  as 
the  wine-tasters  and  the  tea-tasters  do. 
Small  sips  are  intaken  and  the  liquid  is 
tasted  between  the  top  of  the  tongue 
(the  spoon  end)  and  the  roof  of  the 
mouth  until  all  the  taste  is  tasted  out 
of  it,  and  the  Swallowing  Impulse  has 
claimed  it.  This  is  by  no  means  a  dis- 
agreeable task,  and  as  soon  as  the  un- 
naturally acquired  habit  of  greed  and 
impatience  is  conquered,  the  reward  of 
following  this  natural  requirement  is 


8     THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

very  great  and  increases  with  practice. 
Five  years  of  experience  has  taught  the 
author  that  a  really  keen  appreciation  of 
taste  and  its  delicacy  of  possible  refine- 
ment is  not  known  to  persons  of  ordinary 
habits  of  life.  The  pleasure  which  comes 
with  conformity  with  the  natural  require- 
ments is  truly  Epicurean  and  disregard 
of  them  is  as  surely  gluttonous. 

The  author  still  claims  discovery  of 
a  distinct  physiological  function  which 
he  first  named  "  Nature's  Food  Filter." 
Van  Someren  preferred  the  name  of  a 
"  New  Reflex  of  Deglutition."  It  is,  in 
fact,  the  "  Natural  Swallowing  Impulse," 
invited  only  by  food  mechanically  and 
chemically  prepared  for  passing  on  to 
the  interior,  call  it  by  whatever  name 
you  like  or  may. 

At  the  time  this  little  book  was  first 
published,  the  only  note  in  favour  of 
giving  special  attention  to  "buccal  di- 
gestion," that  had  been  sounded,  was 
the  advice  of  Mr.  Gladstone  to  his  chil- 
dren, "  Chew  your  food  thirty-two  times 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    9 

to  each  mouthful,"  or  words  to  that 
effect.  The  "  Masticate  well  "  prescrip- 
tion of  the  physician  when  given  at 
all,  had  meant  little  or  nothing,  to  either 
the  patient  or  to  the  prescriber,  except 
that  one  must  not  swallow  hard  food 
whole. 

For  two  years  after  its  publication 
little  heed  was  given  to  the  suggestion 
because  the  author  happened  not  to  be 
a  medical  man,  but,  finally,  the  reserve 
of  indifference  was  broken,  first  by  Dr. 
Joseph  Blumfeld,  in  a  review  of  the 
book  in  the  London  Lancet,  and  soon 
after  by  Dr.  Ernest  Van  Someren  of 
Venice,  Italy,  an  English  physician  re- 
siding and  practising  in  Venice.  Dr. 
Van  Someren's  interest  and  experience 
are  best  stated  in  his  own  words,  as 
follows : 


10    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

THE   PERSONAL  "CASE"   AND 
"ENDORSEMENT" 

OF 

DR.   ERNEST  VAN   SOMEREN 

AN 

ENGLISH   PHYSICIAN   AND   SURGEON,  PRACTISING 
IN   VENICE,    ITALY 

"  MY  DEAR  MR.  FLETCHER  : 

"  It  would  be  almost  apropos  to  send 
you,  as  an  endorsement  of  your  princi- 
ples, the  dictum  of  the  ragged  and  dirty 
tramp  in  the  advertisement  of  Pear's 
soap.  I  would  have  to  amend  it  slightly 
and  say:  '  I  used  your  {pri™£!es}  three  years 
ago ;  since  when  I  have  used  no  other.' 
I  say  '  almost  apropos '  advisedly,  for, 
while  the  soap  claims  to  keep  the  outer 
man  clean,  the  practice  of  your  princi- 
ples justly  claims  to  keep  the  inner  man 
sweet  and  clean,  so  lessening  the  need 
to  cleanse  the  outer  man  ! 

"A  well-known  English  surgeon  (I 
think  Sir  Wm.  Mitchell  Banks)  recom- 
mends physicians  and  surgeons  to  take 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     1 1 

a  leaf  from  the  book  of  patent-medicine 
vendors,  and  make  their  patients  testify 
to  their  successful  treatment.  I  will 
take  the  hint  and  give  you,  as  my 
1  doctor,'  a  testimonial  of  how  person- 
ally I  am  benefited  by  your  advice. 

"  Three  years  ago,  when  I  first  met 
you,  though  under  thirty  years  of  age, 
and  myself  a  practising  physician  and 
surgeon,  I  was  suffering  from  gout, 
and  had  been  under  the  regime  of  a 
London  specialist  for  the  treatment  of 
that  malady.  Though  vigorously  ad- 
hering to  the  prescribed  diet,  I  suffered 
from  time  to  time.  My  symptoms  were 
typical  —  paroxysmal  pain  in  my  right 
great  toe  and  in  the  last  joints  of  both 
little  fingers,  the  right  one  being  tume- 
fied with  the  well-known  *  node.'  From 
time  to  time,  generally  once  a  month,  I 
suffered  from  incapacitating  headaches. 
Frequent  colds,  boils  on  the  neck  and 
face,  chronic  eczema  of  the  toes,  and 
frequent  acid  dyspepsia  were  other 
and  painful  signs  that  the  life  I  was 


12     THE  NEW_  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

leading  was  not  a  healthy  one.  Yet  I 
was  accounted  a  healthy  person  by  my 
friends,  and  was,  withal,  athletic.  I 
fenced  an  hour  daily,  took  calisthenic 
exercises  every  morning,  forcing  myself 
to  do  them,  and  I  rowed  when  I  obtained 
leisure  to  do  so.  In  spite  of  this  exer- 
cise and  an  inherent  love  of  fresh  air, 
which  kept  all  the  windows  of  my  house 
open  throughout  the  year,  I  suffered  as 
above.  Worse  still,  I  was  losing  inter- 
est in  life  and  in  my  work. 

"  In  one  or  two  conversations  you 
laid  down  your  simple  principles  of 
economic  nutrition.  You  toid  me  that 
my  food  ought  to  be  masticated  thor- 
oughly, until  taste  was  eliminated,  and 
that  (my)  liquid  nourishment,  if  taken, 
ought  to  be  similarly  treated.  You  also 
told  me  that,  taking  food  in  this  way,  I 
might,  without  fear  of  consequences, 
give  free  rein  to  my  appetite.  To  shorten 
my  story,  I  '11  say  that  in  three  months 
after  the  practice  of  these  principles  my 
symptoms  had  disappeared.  Not  only 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     13 

had  my  interest  in  my  life  and  work  re- 
turned, but  my  whole  point  of  view  had 
changed,  and  I  found  a  pleasure  in  both 
living  and  working  that  was  a  constant 
surprise  to  me.  For  this,  my  dear  Mr. 
Fletcher,  I  can  never  repay  you.  My 
only  desire  has  been  and  is,  to  try  and 
do  for  others  in  my  practice  what  you 
did  for  me. 

"  Now  I  have  since  that  time  had 
occasional  colds,  headaches,  and  gouty 
pains ;  but,  whereas  formerly  I  could  not 
explain  their  causes,  I  can  now  invari- 
ably trace  them  to  carelessness  in  the 
buccal  digestion  of  my  food,  and  can 
soon  shake  them  off.  So  much  for  my 
testimonial.  Now  for  other  matters. 

"  I  do  not  know  what  may  be  the  ex- 
tent of  the  claims  you  are  advancing  in 
regard  to  the  benefits  accruing  from  the 
practice  of  your  principles.  If  you,  as 
you  in  justice  may,  claim  even  the  widest 
benefits  as  surely  following  the  practice 
of  these  principles,  many  will  relegate 
these  claims  to  the  limbo  where  all  such 


14    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

'panaceas'  are  soon  forgotten.  They 
will  err  greatly  if  they  do  so.  The  seem- 
ingly simple  procedure  of  insalivating 
one's  food  most  carefully  is  not  calcu- 
lated to  impress  people  with  the  fact 
that  great  permanent  benefit  follows. 
The  subtlety  of  the  changes  that  occur 
is  due  to  the  greatly  increased  action  of 
a  vital  process,  i.  e.,  of  the  admixture  with 
the  food-stuffs  of  saliva,  in  such  quanti- 
ties as  to  alter  the  chemical  reaction  of 
the  initial  stage  of  digestion.  This  ini- 
tial change  causes  a  consequent  change 
of  all  the  processes  following  it,  and  a 
change  also  in  the  final  products  of  the 
entire  process  of  digestion ;  the  great- 
est change  being,  perhaps,  the  elimi- 
nation of  last-resort  digestion  by  the 
intestinal  flora  (digestion  by  decomposi- 
tion caused  by  bacteria),  and  consequent 
elimination  from  the  body,  of  the  toxins 
they  produce.  The  life  of  an  organism 
has  been  defined  as  '  the  sum  of  all 
those  inter-actions  which  take  place  be- 
tween the  various  cells  constituting  the 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     15 

organism  and  their  several  environ- 
ments.' (Harry  Campbell.)  The  final 
products  of  digestion  are  absorbed  into 
the  blood  stream,  and  go  to  form  part 
of  the  '  several  environments '  of  the 
cells.  The  individual  cell,  the  various 
groups  of  specialised  cells,  such  as  the 
brain,  nerves,  muscles,  bones,  etc.,  in 
short,  the  whole  organism  is  beneficially 
influenced  and  made  more  resistent  to 
disease  by  the  purity  of  a  blood  stream 
that  no  longer  contains  the  toxins  of 
bacterially  digested  food. 

"  The  further  investigation  of  your 
discovery  by  those  competent  will,  I  am 
confident,  result  in  such  a  simplification 
of  the  rules  for  a  healthy  life  that  the 
medical  profession,  at  present  forced 
by  a  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  vital  pro- 
cesses of  nutrition  to  base  their  treat- 
ment on  the  veriest  empiricism,  will 
then  be  able  to  teach  all  and  sundry 
how  to  live.  At  present,  all  we  can  do 
is  to  treat  and  perchance  cure  fora  time 
certain  symptoms,  allowing  the  patient 


1 6    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

to  return  afterwards  to  a  mode  of  life 
that  is  really  responsible  for  his  malady. 
'  Disease  is  an  abnormal  mode  of  life.' 
(Harry  Campbell.)  The  three  factors 
in  its  causation  are : 

"  (a)  Cell  structure. 

"  (6)  Internal  cell  environment. 

"  (c)  External  body  environment. 

"  Heredity  determines,  to  a  very  large 
extent,  our  cell  structure,  and  conse- 
quently our  body  structure. 

"Sanitary  science  regulates  our  ex- 
ternal body  environment  as  much  as  the 
artificial  and  noxious  habits  of  so-called 
civilisation  will  allow.  The  mental  and 
physical  external  body  environments 
have  also  their  effect  on  the  organism. 

"  Your  discovery  of  simple  rules  for 
an  Economic  Nutrition  will  control  the 
internal  cell  environment.  In  doing 
his,  the  predisposition  to  disease  is 
materially  affected.  The  internal  cell 
environment  being  free  from  toxic 
material,  and  the  cell  itself  better  nour- 
ished, the  cell's  resistance  to  disease  is 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     17 

increased,  the  possible  source  of  disease 
being  limited  to  the  external  body 
environment. 

"  In  concluding  this  endorsement  I 
can  promise,  to  each  and  all  who  may 
intelligently  practise  the  principles  of 
Thorough  Buccal-Digestion,  a  complete 
knowledge  of  their  body's  food  require- 
ments, or,  as  a  patient  of  mine  tersely 
put  it,  they  will  learn  the  way  to  '  run 
their  own  machines.' 

"  Yours  ever, 
"  ERNEST  VAN  SOMEREN." 

Dr.  Van  Someren  and  the  author, 
assisted  by  Dr.  Professor  Leonardi,  of 
Venice,  as  Consulting  Physiological- 
Chemist,  and  several  colleagues,  pursued 
some  experiments  during  the  winter  of 
1900-1901;  and  Dr.  Van  Someren  read 
a  paper  on  our  work,  entitled,  "  Was 
Luigi  Cornaro  Right  ? ",  before  the  meet- 
ing of  the  British  Medical  Association 
the  following  August. 

The  paper  is  too  long  to  reprint  here 
but  it  will  be  found  in  full  in  another 


1 8     THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

volume,  entitled,  "  The  A.B.-Z.  of  Our 
Own  Nutrition." 

The  following  "  Note "  by  Dr.  Pro- 
fessor, Sir  Michael  Foster,  K.C.B.,  M.P., 
F.R.S.  etc.,  is  a  further  link  in  the  chain 
of  development  of  appreciation  of  the 
need  of  serious  attention  to  the  science 
of  human  nutrition  excited  by  this  in- 
itiative. (Dr.  Foster  is  the  Permanent 
Honorary  President  of  the  International 
Congress  of  Physiologists.) 

EXPERIMENTS   UPON    HUMAN 
NUTRITION 

NOTE   BY   SIR   MICHAEL   FOSTER,    K.C.B., 
M.P.,   F.R.S. 

"  In  1901  Dr.  Ernest  Van  Someren 
submitted  to  the  British  Medical  As- 
sociation, and  afterwards  to  the  Con- 
gress of  Physiologists  at  Turin,  an 
account  of  some  experiments  initiated 
by  Mr.  Horace  Fletcher.  These  ex- 
periments went  to  show  that  the  pro- 
cesses of  bodily  nutrition  are  very 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     19 

profoundly  affected  by  the  preliminary 
treatment  of  the  food-stuffs  in  the  mouth 
and  indicated  that  great  advantages 
follow  from  the  adoption  of  certain 
methods  in  eating.  The  essentials  of 
these  special  methods,  stated  briefly  and 
without  regard  to  certain  important 
theoretical  considerations  discussed  by 
Dr.  Van  Someren,  consist  of  a  specially 
prolonged  mastication  which  is  neces- 
sarily associated  with  an  insalivation  of 
the  food-stuffs  much  more  thorough 
than  is  obtained  with  ordinary  habits. 

"  The  results  brought  to  light  by  the 
preliminary  experimental  trials  went  to 
show  that  such  treatment  of  the  food 
has  a  most  important  effect  upon  the 
economy  of  the  body,  involving  in  the 
first  place  a  very  notable  reduction  in 
the  amount  of  food — and  especially  of 
proteid  food  —  necessary  to  maintain 
complete  efficiency. 

"  In  the  second  place  this  treatment 
produced,  in  the  experience  of  its  origi- 
nators, an  increase  in  the  subjective  and 


20    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

objective  well-being  of  those  who  prac- 
tise it,  and,  as  they  believe,  in  their 
power  of  resistance  to  the  inroads  of  dis- 
ease. These  secondary  effects  may  in- 
deed be  almost  assumed  as  a  corollary 
of  the  first  mentioned ;  because  there 
can  be  little  doubt  that  the  ingestion  of 
food  —  and  perhaps  especially  of  pro- 
teid  food  —  in  excess  of  what  is,  under 
the  best  conditions,  sufficient  for  main- 
tenance and  activity,  can  only  be  dele- 
terious to  the  organism,  clogging  it  with 
waste  products  which  may  at  times  be 
of  a  directly  toxic  nature. 

"  In  the  autumn  of  1901  Mr.  Fletcher 
and  Dr.  Van  Someren  came  to  Cam- 
bridge with  the  intention  of  having  the 
matter  more  closely  inquired  into,  with 
the  assistance  of  physiological  experts. 
The  matter  evoked  considerable  interest 
in  Cambridge,  and  observations  were 
made  not  only  upon  those  more  imme- 
diately interested,  but  upon  other  in- 
dividuals, some  of  whom  were  themselves 
medical  men  and  trained  observers. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     21 

"  Certain  facts  were  established  by 
these  observations,  which,  however,  are 
to  be  looked  upon  as  still  of  a  prelimi- 
nary nature.  The  adoption  of  the  habit 
of  thorough  insalivation  of  the  food  was 
found  in  a  consensus  of  opinion  to  have 
an  immediate  and  very  striking  effect  up- 
on appetite,  making  this  more  discrimin- 
ating, and  leading  to  the  choice  of  a 
simple  dietary  and  in  particular  reducing 
the  craving  for  flesh  food.  The  appetite, 
too,  is  beyond  all  question  fully  satisfied 
with  a  dietary  considerably  less  in  amount 
than  with  ordinary  habits  is  demanded. 

"  Numerical  data  were  obtained  in 
several  cases,  but  it  is  not  proposed  to 
deal  with  these  in  detail  here,  as  they 
need  the  supplementary  study  which 
will  be  shortly  referred  to. 

"  In  two  individuals  who  pushed  the 
method  to  its  limits  it  was  found  that  com- 
plete bodily  efficiency  was  maintained 
for  some  weeks  upon  a  dietary  which  had 
a  total  energy  value  of  less  than  one-half 
of  that  usually  taken,  and  comprised  little 


22     THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

more  than  one-third  of  the  proteid  con- 
sumed by  the  average  man. 

"  It  may  be  doubted  if  continued 
efficiency  could  be  maintained  with  such 
low  values  as  these,  and  very  prolonged 
observations  would  be  necessary  to  es- 
tablish the  facts.  But  all  subjects  of  the 
experiments  who  applied  the  principles 
intelligently  agreed  in  finding  a  very 
marked  reduction  in  their  needs,  and 
experienced  an  increase  in  their  sense  of 
well-being  and  an  increase  in  their  work- 
ing powers. 

"  One  fact  fully  confirmed  by  the  Cam- 
bridge observations  consists  in  the  effect 
of  the  special  habits  described  upon  the 
waste  products  of  the  bowel.  These 
are  greatly  reduced  in  amount,  as  might 
be  expected ;  but  they  are  also  markedly 
changed  in  character,  becoming  odour- 
less and  inoffensive,  and  assuming  a 
condition  which  suggests  that  the  in- 
testine is  in  a  healthier  and  more  aseptic 
condition  than  is  the  case  under  ordinary 
circumstances. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     23 

"  Although  the  experiments  hitherto 
made  are,  as  already  stated,  only  prelim- 
inary in  nature  and  limited  in  scope, 
they  establish  beyond  all  question  that 
a  full  and  careful  study  of  the  matter  is 
urgently  called  for. 

"  For  this  fuller  study  the  Cambridge 
laboratories  do  not  possess  at  present 
either  the  necessary  equipment  or  the 
funds  to  provide  it.  For  the  detailed 
study  of  the  physical  efficiency  of  a  man 
under  varying  conditions,  elaborate  and 
expensive  apparatus  is  required ;  and 
the  advantages  claimed  for  the  special 
treatment  of  the  food  just  discussed  can 
only  be  fully  tested  by  prolonged  and 
laborious  experiments  calling  for  a  con- 
siderable staff  of  workers. 

"  It  is  of  great  importance  that  the 
mind  of  the  lay  public  should  be  dis- 
abused of  the  idea  that  medical  science 
is  possessed  of  final  information  con- 
cerning questions  of  nutrition.  This  is 
very  far  indeed  from  being  the  case. 
Human  nutrition  involves  highly  com- 


24    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

plex  factors,  and  the  scientific  basis  for 
our  knowledge  of  the  subject  is  but 
small ;  where  questions  of  diet  are  con- 
cerned, medical  teaching,  no  less  than 
popular  practice,  is  to  a  great  extent 
based  upon  empiricism. 

"  But  the  scientific  and  social  impor- 
tance of  the  question  is  clearly  immense, 
and  it  is  greatly  to  be  desired  that  its 
study  should  be  encouraged. 

"M.  FOSTER. 

"  April  26th,  1902." 

The  interest  excited  in  Professor 
Foster  was  coincident  with  that  es- 
poused by  Dr.  Professor  Henry  Picker- 
ing Bowditch,  Professor  of  Physiology 
of  Harvard  Medical  School,  and  Dean 
of  American  Physiologists.  Under  the 
aegis  of  such  encouragement  the  later 
developments  are  not  at  all  surprising. 
In  order  to  extend  and  verify  the  find- 
ings of  Dr.  F.  Gowland  Hopkins,  of  Cam- 
bridge University,  England,  as  stated  in 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     25 

the  preceeding  note  by  Professor  Foster, 
Professor  Russell  H.  Chittenden,  Pres- 
ident of  the  American  Physiological 
Society,  Director  of  the  Sheffield  Scien- 
tific School  of  Yale  University,  and  one 
of  the  leading  chemico-physiological 
authorities  of  the  world,  as  measured  by 
accepted  research  work,  volunteered  to 
submit  the  author  to  further  test.  The 
report  of  this  test  is  too  long  for  repro- 
duction here.  It  was  first  published  in 
the  Popular  Science  Monthly  of  June 
1903,  but  will  be  found  in  full  in  the 
"A.  B.-Z."  just  referred  to.  The  special 
reference  to  the  author's  case  and  the 
quoted  report  of  Dr.  William  G.  Ander- 
son, Director  of  the  Yale  Gymnasium* 
which  tells  the  story  of  efficiency,  was 
as  follows: 

Extract  from  an  article  by  Professor  Russell  H. 
Chittenden  in  Popular  Science  Monthly,  June,  1903. 

"  The  writer  has  had  in  his  laboratory 
for  several  months  past  a  gentleman 
(Horace  Fletcher)  who  has  for  some  five 


26     THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

years,  in  pursuit  of  a  study  of  the  sub- 
ject of  human  nutrition,  practised  a  cer- 
tain degree  of  abstinence  in  the  taking 
of  food  and  attained  important  economy 
with,  as  he  believes,  great  gain  in  bodily 
and  mental  vigour  and  with  marked 
improvement  in  his  general  health. 
Under  his  new  method  of  living  he 
finds  himself  possessed  of  a  peculiar 
fitness  for  work  of  all  kinds  and  with 
freedom  from  the  ordinary  fatigue  in- 
cidental to  extra  physical  exertion.  In 
using  the  word  abstinence  possibly  a 
wrong  impression  is  given,  for  the  habits 
of  life  now  followed  have  resulted  in 
the  disappearance  of  the  ordinary  crav- 
ing for  food.  In  other  words,  the 
gentleman  in  question  fully  satisfies  his 
appetite,  but  no  longer  desires  the 
amount  of  food  consumed  by  most 
individuals. 

"  For  a  period  of  thirteen  days,  in 
January,  he  was  under  observation  in 
the  writer's  laboratory,  his  excretions 
being  analysed  daily  with  a  view  to  ascer- 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     27 

taining  the  exact  amount  of  proteid  con- 
sumed. The  results  showed  that  the 
average  daily  amount  of  proteid  meta- 
bolised was  41.25  grams,  the  body-weight 
(165  pounds)  remaining  practically 
constant.  Especially  noteworthy  also 
was  the  very  complete  utilisation  of  the 
proteid  food  during  this  period  of 
observation.  It  will  be  observed  here 
that  the  daily  amount  of  proteid  food 
taken  was  less  than  one  half  that  of  the 
minimum  Voit  standard,  and  it  should 
also  be  mentioned  that  this  apparent 
deficiency  in  proteid  food  was  not  made 
good  by  any  large  consumption  of  fats 
or  carbohydrates.  Further,  there  was 
no  restriction  in  diet.  On  the  contrary, 
there  was  perfect  freedom  of  choice,  and 
the  instructions  given  were  to  follow 
his  usual  dietetic  habits.  Analysis  of 
the  excretions  showed  an  output  of 
nitrogen  equal  to  the  breaking  down 
of  41.25  grams  of  proteid  per  day,  as 
an  average,  the  extremes  being  33.06 
grams  and  47.05  grams  of  proteid. 


28     THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

"In  February,  a  more  thorough  series 
of  observations  was  made,  involving  a 
careful  analysis  of  the  daily  diet,  to- 
gether with  analysis  of  the  excreta,  so 
that  not  alone  the  proteid  consumption 
might  be  ascertained,  but  likewise  the 
total  intake  of  fats  and  carbohydrates. 
The  diet  consumed  was  quite  simple, 
and  consisted  merely  of  a  prepared 
cereal  food,  milk  and  maple  sugar. 
This  diet  was  taken  twice  a  day  for 
seven  days,  and  was  selected  by  the 
subject  as  giving  sufficient  variety  for 
his  needs  and  quite  in  accord  with  his 
taste.  No  attempt  was  made  to  con- 
form to  any  given  standard  of  quantity, 
but  the  subject  took  each  day  such 
amounts  of  the  above  foods  as  his  ap- 
petite craved.  Each  portion  taken,  how- 
ever, was  carefully  weighed  in  the 
laboratory,  the  chemical  composition  of 
the  food  determined,  and  the  fuel  value 
calculated  by  the  usual  methods. 

"  The  following  table  gives  the  daily 
intake  of  proteids,  fats  and  carbohydrates 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     29 

for  six  days,  together  with  the  calculated 
fuel  value,  and  also  the  nitrogen  in- 
take, together  with  the  nitrogen  output 
through  the  excreta.  Many  other  data 
were  obtained  showing  diminished  ex- 
cretion of  uric  acid,  ethereal  sulphates, 
phosphoric  acid,  etc.,  but  they  need  not 
be  discussed  here. 


Intake. 

Output  of  Nitrogen. 

Pro- 
teids. 

Fats. 

Car- 
bchy. 

Calor- 
ies. 

Nitro- 
gen. 

Urine. 

Faeces. 

Total. 

Grains. 

Grains. 

Grains. 

Grams. 

Grams. 

Grams. 

Grams. 

Feb.  a 

3>-3 

25-3 

"5-4 

ooo 

5.02 

5-27 

0.18 

5-45 

3 

46.8 

40.4 

266.2 

1690 

7.50 

6.24 

0.81* 

7.05 

4 

48.0 

38-1 

283.0 

>747 

7.70 

5-53 

0.81* 

6-34 

5 

50.0 

40.6 

269.0 

1711 

8.00 

6-44 

0.81* 

7-25 

6 

47.0 

4'-5 

267.0 

1737 

7-49 

6.83 

0.81* 

7.64 

7 

46.5 

39-8 

307.3 

1852 

7-44 

7.50 

0.17 

7.67 

Daily  { 
Av.     J 

44-9 

38.0 

253.0 

1606 

7.19 

6.30 

0.60 

6.90 

"  The  main  things  to  be  noted  in 
these  results  are,  first,  that  the  total 
daily  consumption  of  proteid  amounted 
on  an  average  to  only  45  grams,  and 
that  the  fat  and  carbohydrate  were 
taken  in  quantities  only  sufficient  to 
bring  the  total  fuel  value  of  the  daily 
*  Average  of  the  four  days. 


30     THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

food  up  to  a  little  more  than  1,600  large 
calories.  If,  however,  we  eliminate  the 
first  day,  when  for  some  reason  the  sub- 
ject took  an  unusually  small  amount  of 
food,  these  figures  are  increased  some- 
what, but  they  are  ridiculously  low 
compared  with  the  ordinarily  accepted 
dietary  standards.  When  we  recall  that 
the  Voit  standard  demands  at  least 
118  grams  of  proteid  and  a  total  fuel 
value  of  3,000  large  calories  daily,  we 
appreciate  at  once  the  full  significance 
of  the  above  figures.  But  it  may  be 
asked,  was  this  diet  at  all  adequate  for 
the  needs  of  the  bodv  —  sufficient  for  a 

# 

man  weighing  165  pounds?  In  reply, 
it  may  be  said  that  the  appetite  was 
satisfied  and  that  the  subject  had  full 
freedom  to  take  more  food  if  he  so  de- 
sired. To  give  a  physiological  answer, 
it  may  be  said  that  the  body-weight  re- 
mained practically  constant  throughout 
the  seven  days'  period,  and  further,  it 
will  be  observed  by  comparing  the  fig- 
ures of  the  table  that  the  nitrogen  of 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     31 

the  intake  and  the  total  nitrogen  of  the 
output  were  not  far  apart.  In  other 
words,  there  was  a  close  approach  to 
what  the  physiologist  calls  nitrogenous 
equilibrium.  In  fact,  it  will  be  noted 
that  on  several  days  the  nitrogen  out- 
put was  slightly  less  than  the  nitrogen 
taken  in.  We  are,  therefore,  apparently 
justified  in  saying  that  the  above  diet, 
simple  though  it  was  in  variety,  and  in 
quantity  far  below  the  usually  accepted 
requirement,  was  quite  adequate  for  the 
needs  of  the  body.  In  this  connection 
it  may  be  asked,  what  were  the  needs  of 
the  body  during  this  seven  days'  period  ? 
This  is  obviously  a  very  important 
point.  Can  a  man  on  such  a  diet,  even 
though  it  suffices  to  keep  up  body- 
weight  and  apparently  also  physiological 
equilibrium,  do  work  to  any  extent  ? 
Will  there  be  under  such  condition  a 
proper  degree  of  fitness  for  physical 
work  of  any  kind  ?  In  order  to  ascer- 
tain this  point,  the  subject  was  invited 
to  do  physical  work  at  the  Yale  Uni- 


32     THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

versity  Gymnasium  and  placed  under 
the  guidance  of  the  director  of  the 
gymnasium,  Dr.  William  G.  Anderson. 
The  results  of  the  observations  there 
made  are  here  given,  taken  verbatim 
from  Dr.  Anderson's  report  to  the 
writer. 

" '  On  the  4th,  5th,  6th  and  yth  of 
February,  1903,  I  gave  to  Mr.  Horace 
Fletcher  the  same  kind  of  exercises  we 
give  to  the  Varsity  Crew.  They  are 
drastic  and  fatiguing  and  cannot  be 
done  by  beginners  without  soreness  and 
pain  resulting.  The  exercises  he  was 
asked  to  take  were  of  a  character  to  tax 
the  heart  and  lungs  as  well  as  to  try  the 
muscles  of  the  limbs  and  trunk.  I 
should  not  give  these  exercises  to  Fresh- 
men on  account  of  their  severity. 

" '  Mr.  Fletcher  has  taken  these  move- 
ments with  an  ease  that  is  unlocked  for. 
He  gives  evidence  of  no  soreness  or  lame- 
ness and  the  large  groups  of  muscles 
respond  the  second  day  without  evidence 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     33 

of  being  poisoned  by  carbon  dioxide. 
There  is  no  evidence  of  distress  after 
or  during  the  endurance  test,  i.  e.,  the 
long  run.  The  heart  is  fast  but  regular. 
It  comes  back  to  its  normal  beat  quicker 
than  does  the  heart  of  other  men  of  his 
weight  and  age. 

" '  The  case  is  unusual  and  I  am  sur- 
prised that  Mr.  Fletcher  can  do  the 
work  of  trained  athletes  and  not  give 
marked  evidences  of  over  exertion.  As 
I  am  in  almost  constant  training  I  have 
gone  over  the  same  exercises  and  in 
about  the  same  way  and  have  given 
the  results  for  a  standard  of  comparison. 
(The  figures  are  not  given  here.) 

" '  My  conclusion  given  in  condensed 
form  is  this.  Mr.  Fletcher  performs 
this  work  with  greater  ease  and  with 
fewer  noticeable  bad  results  than  any 
man  of  his  age  and  condition  I  have 
ever  worked  with.' 

"  To  appreciate  the  full  significance  of 
this  report,  it  must  be  remembered  that 

3 


34    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

Mr.  Fletcher  had  for  several  months  past 
taken  practically  no  exercise  other  than 
that  involved  in  daily  walks  about  town. 

"  In  view  of  the  strenuous  work  im- 
posed during  the  above  four  days,  it  is 
quite  evident  that  the  body  had  need  of 
a  certain  amount  of  nutritive  material. 
Yet  the  work  was  done  without  appar- 
ently drawing  upon  any  reserve  the 
body  may  have  possessed.  The  diet, 
small  though  it  was,  and  with  only  half 
the  accepted  requirement  in  fuel  value, 
still  sufficed  to  furnish  the  requisite 
energy.  The  work  was  accomplished 
with  perfect  ease,  without  strain,  without 
the  usual  resultant  lameness,  without  tax- 
ing the  heart  or  lungs,  and  without  loss 
of  body- weight.  In  other  words,  in  Mr. 
Fletcher's  case  at  least,  the  body  machin- 
ery was  kept  in  perfect  fitness  without 
the  consumption  of  any  such  quantities 
of  fuel  as  has  generally  been  considered 
necessary. 

"  Just  here  it  may  be  instructive  to 
observe  that  the  food  consumed  by  Mr. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     35 

Fletcher  during  this  seven  days'  period 
—  and  which  has  been  shown  to  be 
entirely  adequate  for  his  bodily  needs 
during  strenuous  activity  —  cost  eleven 
cents  daily,  thus  making  the  total  cost 
for  the  seven  days  seventy-seven  cents  ! 
If  we  contrast  this  figure  with  the 
amounts  generally  paid  for  average 
nourishment  for  a  like  period  of  time, 
there  is  certainly  food  for  serious 
thought.  Mr.  Fletcher  avers  that  he 
has  followed  his  present  plan  of  living  for 
nearly  five  years ;  he  usually  takes  two 
meals  a  day ;  has  been  led  to  a  strong 
liking  for  sugar  and  carbohydrates  in 
general  and  away  from  a  meat  diet ;  is 
always  in  perfect  health,  and  is  con- 
stantly in  a  condition  of  fitness  for 
work.  He  practises  thorough  mastica- 
tion, with  more  complete  insalivation  of 
the  food  (liquid  as  well  as  solid)  than 
is  usual,  thereby  insuring  more  com- 
plete and  ready  digestion  and  a  more 
thorough  utilisation  of  the  nutritive 
portions  of  the  food. 


36     THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

"  In  view  of  these  results,  are  we  not 
justified  in  asking  ourselves  whether 
we  have  yet  attained  a  clear  compre- 
hension of  the  real  requirements  of  the 
body  in  the  matter  of  daily  nutriment  ? 
Whether  we  fully  comprehend  the  best 
and  most  economical  method  of  main- 
taining the  body  in  a  state  of  physi- 
ological fitness  ?  The  case  of  Mr. 
Fletcher  just  described ;  the  results 
noted  in  connection  with  certain  Asiatic 
peoples ;  the  fruitarians  and  7^/arians 
in  our  own  country  recently  studied  by 
Professor  Jaffa,  of  the  University  of 
California ;  all  suggest  the  possibility 
of  much  greater  physiological  economy 
than  we  as  a  race  are  wont  to  practise. 
If  these  are  merely  exceptional  cases, 
we  need  to  know  it,  but  if,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  is  possible  for  mankind  in 
general  to  maintain  proper  nutritive 
conditions  on  dietary  standards  far  be- 
low those  now  accepted  as  necessary, 
it  is  time  for  us  to  ascertain  that  fact. 
For,  if  our  standards  are  now  unneces- 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     37 

sarily  high,  then  surely  we  are  not  only 
practising  an  uneconomical  method  of 
sustaining  life,  but  we  are  subjecting 
ourselves  to  conditions  the  reverse  of 
physiological,  and  which  must  of  neces- 
sity be  inimical  to  our  well  being.  The 
possibility  of  more  scientific  knowledge 
of  the  natural  requirements  of  a  healthy 
nutrition  is  made  brighter  by  the  fact 
that  the  economic  results  noted  in  con- 
nection with  our  metabolism  examina- 
tion of  Mr.  Fletcher  is  confirmatory  of 
similar  results  obtained  under  the  direc- 
tion and  scrutiny  of  Sir  Michael  Foster 
at  the  University  of  Cambridge,  England, 
during  the  autumn  and  winter  of  last 
year ;  and  by  Dr.  Ernest  Van  Someren, 
Mr.  Fletcher's  collaborateur,  in  Venice, 
on  subjects  of  various  ages  and  of  both 
sexes,  some  account  of  which  has  already 
been  presented  to  the  British  Medical 
Association  and  to  the  International 
Congress  of  Physiologists  at  its  last 
meeting  at  Turin,  Italy.  At  the  same 
time  emphasis  must  be  laid  upon  the 


38     THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

fact  that  no  definite  and  positive  con- 
clusions can  be  arrived  at  except  as  the 
result  of  careful  experiments  and  obser- 
vations on  many  individuals  covering 
long  periods  of  time.  This,  however, 
the  writer  hopes  to  do  in  the  very  near 
future,  with  the  cooperation  of  a  corps 
of  interested  observers. 

"  The  problem  is  far-reaching.  It  in- 
volves not  alone  the  individual,  but 
society  as  a  whole,  for  beyond  the  indi- 
vidual lies  the  broader  field  of  the  com- 
munity, and  what  proves  helpful  for  the 
one  will  eventually  react  for  the  better- 
ment of  society  and  for  the  improvement 
of  mankind  in  general." 

This  test  of  work  was  accomplished 
on  food  of  the  nitrogen  value  of  less 
than  7  grams  daily,  whereas  the  text- 
books declare  that  from  16  to  25  grams 
of  nitrogen  are  necessary  to  human  ex- 
istence. The  heat  value  of  the  food 
consumed  during  the  test,  and  which 
was  like  in  amount  to  what  had  been 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     39 

habitually  taken  by  the  author  for  about 
five  years  previously  (less  than  1600  large 
Calories),  was  only  half  the  amount  set 
down  by  the  majority  of  the  presently- 
accepted  authorities  as  necessary  to  run 
the  body  of  a  man  of  the  author's  weight 
and  activity.  The  heat-economy-show- 
ing was  verified  a  week  or  two  later  in 
a  32-hour  calorimeter  measurement  in 
the  apparatus  of  Professors  Atwater  and 
Benedict  at  Middletown,  Conn. 

Evidence  of  even  more  significant 
value  has  accumulated  outside  the  field 
of  the  author's  own  experiments  and 
tests.  After  more  than  a  year  of  careful 
trial  among  some  thousands  of  patients 
and  among  some  hundreds  of  earnest 
employees,  Dr.  James  H.  Kellogg,  of 
the  great  Battle  Creek  Sanitarium,  has 
adopted  the  suggestions  contained  in 
this  book  as  the  first  requirement  of  the 
treatment  at  the  Sanitarium.  In  like 
manner,  Dr.  Edward  Hooker  Dewey, 
the  sturdy  advocate  of  dietary-economy 
for  the  past  thirty  years,  author  of  the 


40    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

"  No-Breakfast "  regimen,  and  various 
books  upon  the  subject  of  auto-nutrition 
and  dietary-rest,  bent  his  attention  upon 
the  effect  of  thorough  buccal  digestion 
prescribed  after  a  period  of  rest  from  out- 
side feeding,  and  here  follows  his  appre- 
ciation as  extracted  from  personal  letters. 
Before  quoting  from  the  high  appre- 
ciation of  Dr.  Dewey  and  Dr.  Kellogg 
it  may  be  well  to  state  that  the  author 
stands  simply  for  a  test-subject-factor  in 
a  commonweal  natural  inquiry  and  no 
praise  of  the  subject  attaches  to  the 
person  of  the  author.  Whatever  the 
author  is,  in  the  enjoyment  of  health  and 
strength,  is  the  result  of  natural  causes 
which  have  developed  during  his  study  of 
the  natural  requirements  in  our  nutrition. 
Please  forget  the  personal  element  and 
consider  that  what  is  the  author's  gain 
in  efficiency  as  related,  is  the  possible 
possession  of  the  reader  as  well,  and 
whatever  work  or  test  the  author  per- 
forms is  done  as  much  for  the  reader 
as  for  the  author  himself. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    41 

The  several  extracts  from  the  letters 
of  Drs.  Kellogg  and  Dewey;  the  state- 
ment relative  to  an  endurance-test  made 
on  the  author's  fiftieth  birthday,  on  a 
bicycle  in  France,  volunteered  by  Ed- 
ward W.  Redfield,  last  year's  Medal-of- 
Honorist  at  the  Pennsylvania  Academy 
of  Fine  Arts,  Philadelphia,  as  well  as 
medalist  of  last  Exposition  Universale, 
Paris ;  are  appreciated  and  accepted  for 
the  subject  they  endorse ;  and,  as  before 
stated,  are  entirely  impersonal.  Instead 
of  using  dumb  animals  for  test  subjects 
and  getting  their  unwilling,  and  some- 
times abnormally  deranged,  partici- 
pation, the  author  takes  pleasure  in 
submitting  to  the  tests  himself,  and  is 
thus  able  to  state  "  symptoms "  and 
"feelings"  more  accurately,  perhaps, 
than  any  dog  could  do.  Were  vivi- 
section necessary  the  author  would  will- 
ingly submit  to  that  inconvenience  also; 
but  thanks  to  the  skill  of  a  Pawlow,  and 
the  ingenuity  of  a  Bowditch  coupled 
with  the  patience  and  persistence  of  a 


42     THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

Cannon,  as  fully  related  in  the  "  A.B.- 
Z.,"  we  not  only  get  the  economic  re- 
sults but  we  are  able  to  know  and  even 
see  some  of  the  "  reasons  for  things  "  as 
well. 

Interesting  testimony  and  comment 
relative  to  the  present  study  will  be 
found  at  the  end  of  the  volume  in  com- 
munications from  Commandante  Cesare 
Agnelli,  Clarence  F.  Low,  Esquire,  Baron 
Randolph  Natili,  and  one  of  unusual  sug- 
gestiveness,  as  evidence  of  the  need  of 
further  study  of  nutrition,  from  Dr.  Hu- 
bert Higgins  of  Cambridge,  England. 

MILITARY-SCIENTIFIC    COOPERATION 

With  the  evidence  and  interest  just 
outlined,  it  was  not  difficult  for  the 
author  to  enlist  the  cooperation  of 
Surgeon-General  O'Reilly  of  the  United 
Army  and  the  endorsement  of  General 
Leonard  Wood  for  larger  investigation 
of  the  subject.  These  officers,  both  of 
them  surgeons  and  medical  doctors,  had 
supported  the  militant-martyr-scientist, 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     43 

Dr.  Major  Walter  Reed,  in  his  great 
sanitary  accomplishment;  had  fought 
yellow  fever  to  a  finish  together  in  Cuba ; 
had  traced  its  spread  to  a  specific  cause ; 
and  were  thereby  encouraged  to  tackle 
even  so  common  and  powerful  enemies 
as  Indigestion  and  Mai-Assimilation. 

The  investigation  now  in  progress  at 
Yale  University,  under  the  direction  of 
Professor  Chittenden  and  under  the 
fostering  auspices  of  the  Trustees  of 
the  Bache  Fund,  which  is  administered 
by  the  National  Academy  of  Sciences, 
and  other  contributed  support,  is  a  Mil- 
itant-Scientific campaign  which  will  not 
cease  until  we  know  as  much  about  hu- 
man nutrition,  at  least,  as  we  know  about 
the  nutrition  of  our  domestic  animals. 

In  this  little  book,  however,  is  an  ac- 
count of  the  first  distress  and  war  cry, 
(to  appropriate  an  expression  of  the  Sal- 
vation Army),  and  while  the  workers  in 
Science  may  take  a  considerable  time 
to  make  observations  and  investigate 
the  "  reasons  for  things,"  the  underlying 


44    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

claims  herein  stated  will,  it  is  believed, 
ultimately  be  established  as  fundamental 
facts  of  both  Hygiene  and  Physiology. 

The  psychic  factor  in  digestion  is 
even  more  important  than  originally 
claimed  by  the  author,  and  fully  ac- 
counts for  the  strength  attained  by  the 
Christian  Science  movement. 

In  the  "  A.B.-Z.  of  Our  Own  Nutri- 
tion "  are  reprinted,  for  recent  scientific 
reports,  in  addition  to  the  papers  of  Dr. 
Van  Someren  and  Professor  Chitten- 
den,  before  mentioned,  articles  and  lect- 
ures by  Dr.  Professor  Pawlow,  the  great 
Russian  physiologist  and  one  of  the 
Board  of  Assessors  in  the  International 
Nutrition  Investigation,  described  in 
the  "  A.B.-Z.,"  (reprinted  from  the  fine 
English  Translation  by  Dr.  W.  H. 
Thompson,  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin ; 
English  publishers,  Griffin  &  Co. ;  Amer- 
ican publishers,  Lippincott  &  Co.),  on 
the  mental  influence  over  the  salivary, 
gastric,  and  intestinal  secretions.  Also, 
nearly  an  hundred  pages  of  most  virile, 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     45 

readable,  and  important  "  Observations 
on  Mastication,"  by  Dr.  Harry  Camp- 
bell, M.D.,  F.R.C.P.,  of  the  North- 
west London  Hospital ;  reprinted  by 
courteous  permission  of  the  author  and 
of  the  editor  of  the  Lancet.  Also,  a 
description  of  the  digestive  process  in 
animals  as  seen  by  aid  of  the  Rontgen, 
or  X-Ray;  a  most  readable  account  of 
the  infinite  patience  and  application  of 
Dr.  W.  B.  Cannon,  of  the  Harvard  Medi- 
cal School,  devoted  to  learning  the 
"  reasons  for  things  "  done  in  the  closed 
and  secret  laboratory  of  the  stomach 
and  intestines. 

The  above  is  a  necessary  advertise- 
ment of  another  volume  in  the  A.B.C. 
Life  Series ;  because  the  details  of  this 
particular  attempt  to  reduce  the  philoso- 
phy of  every-day  life  to  profitable  simples 
is  linked-up  in  several  volumes  devel- 
oped in  the  course  of  study  of  the  sub- 
ject for  location  of  the  germinal  causes. 

"  Menticulture  "  was  the  first  of  the 
series  and  relates  to  the  individual. 


46     THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

"  Happiness "  came  next  and  located 
the  chief  enemy  of  happiness  in  Fear- 
thought,  the  unprofitable  element  of  fore- 
thought "That  Last  Waif"  treated 
the  question  as  related  to  the  Social 
Whole,  children  in  particular,  and  recom- 
mended Social  Quarantine;  by  exten- 
sion of  infant  education  to  the  extreme 
of  allowing  no  child  to  escape  educa- 
tional care.  This  present  treatise  deals 
with  the  first  requirement  of  such  infan- 
tile care  and  education,  right  feeding. 

DR.   KELLOGG'S  APPRECIATION 

The  great  Battle  Creek  Sanitarium, 
under  the  inspiration  and  direction  of 
Dr.  J.  H.  Kellogg,  has  grown  to  enor- 
mous proportions  in  thirty-seven  years. 
It  began  with  one  patient  in  a  two- 
storey  frame  house  in  a  country  village, 
and  has  been  largely  influential  in  creat- 
ing the  present  proud  distinction  of 
Battle  Creek,  Michigan,  with  its  mil- 
lions upon  millions  of  invested  indus- 
trial capital. 


THE  NEW  GLU1TON  OR  EPICURE     47 

The  "  cure  "  is  based  upon  the  estab- 
lishment in  the  patient  of  right  nutri- 
tion, right  functioning  of  the  bodily 
organs  and  secretions,  and  thereby  as- 
sisting Nature  to  perform  the  cure  in 
a  natural  manner.  Pure  foods  and  other 
conditions  of  right  nutrition  have  been 
the  particular  study  of  the  institution 
staff,  and  large  and  finely  furnished 
chemical  and  bacteriological  laborato- 
ries have  been  installed  for  the  study  of 
nutrition  in  a  scientific  manner. 

The  Battle  Creek  Sanitarium  is  a 
purely  humanitarian  and  philanthropic 
institution.  By  perpetual  charter,  all 
of  the  profits  of  the  concern  in  all  of 
its  ramifications  are  dedicated  to  the  ex- 
tension of  the  American  Medical  Mis- 
sionary Cause,  and  there  have  been 
already  established  more  than  sixty 
branches  of  the  parent  institution  in 
different  parts  of  the  world,  principally 
in  or  near  the  chief  cities  of  America, 
and  all  are  occupied  with  saving  and 
regenerating  the  physical  body  of  the 


48     THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

sick  as  a  foundation  for  possible  moral 
awakening  and  spiritual  cultivation. 

The  work  done  by  these  humanita- 
rian institutions  is  most  practical,  and 
the  best  evidence  of  the  practicality  is 
their  growth.  Patients  are  charged  what 
they  can  conveniently  pay,  but  none  who 
need  are  refused  attention.  Branches 
are  made  self-supporting  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible, but  are  first  nurtured  by  the  parent 
sanitarium.  There  are  some  hundreds 
of  physicians,  nurses,  and  other  at- 
taches of  the  different  institutions,  and 
these  are  enthusiasts  in  the  humanita- 
rian work,  taking  as  wages  only  what 
they  need  for  most  economical  support, 
c<a  mere  pittance,"  and  deriving  their 
chief  compensation  from  satisfaction 
gained  in  the  service.  All  in  all,  it  is 
an  expression  of  inspirational  altruism 
worthy  of  the  example  of  the  Good 
Samaritan  and  a  practical  demonstra- 
tion of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 

The  special  attention  of  the  writer 
was  called  to  the  work  of  the  Battle 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     49 

Creek  Sanitarium  organisation  by  an 
American  banker,  Edwin  C.  Nichols, 
Esquire,  in  London,  at  the  time  of  the 
last  Coronation.  The  banker  was  con- 
versant with  the  growth  and  methods 
of  the  Sanitarium,  and  had  seen  the 
result  of  its  missionary  and  sanitary 
work.  He  exacted  a  promise  from  the 
writer  to  visit  Battle  Creek  on  his  first 
opportunity,  and  Mr.  Nichols  has  our 
everlasting  gratitude  for  leading  us  to 
a  more  intimate  acquaintance  with  so 
splendid  an  illustration  of  humanitarian 
possibilities  when  properly  directed.  It 
is  not  alone  the  great  Sanitarium  and 
its  hospitals,  and  clinics,  and  shelters, 
and  refuges,  and  baths,  and  reading- 
rooms,  that  are  doing  the  greatest  pos- 
sible good  work,  in  demonstrating  their 
effective  Christianity;  but  it  is  the  pri- 
vate waif-family  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Kellogg 
which  shows  what  neglected  children 
are  capable  of  when  given  a  chance,  and 
which  appeals  to  the  author  especially 
as  giving  support  to  his  ideal  of  a  pos- 

4 


50    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

sible  effective  Social  Quarantine  as  pre- 
sented in  his  book,  "  That  Last  Waif." 
Twenty-four  neglected  and  sick  chil- 
dren of  unfortunate  parents  have  been 
rescued  from  an  almost  hopeless  condi- 
tion, and  have  been  adopted  into  the  best 
of  surroundings  and  culture,  all  promis- 
ing to  become  splendid  wealth-produc- 
tive citizens  and  ornaments  to  society. 
For  more  than  a  year  Dr.  Kellogg 
and  his  staff  of  earnest  workers  have 
been  testing  the  suggestions  offered  in 
"Glutton  or  Epicure,"  and  in  the  treatise 
of  Dr.  Van  Someren,  and  appreciation 
of  these  suggestions  and  the  work  that 
has  since  been  done  to  stimulate  interest 
in  the  question  in  high  scientific  circles 
will  be  found  in  some  extracts  from  Dr. 
Kellogg's  letters  which  the  author  has 
received  permission  to  print  herewith. 

"BATTLE  CREEK,  MICH.,  Nov.  26,  1902. 
"  DEAR  MR.  FLETCHER  : 

"  I  have  your  kind  note  of  November 
2Oth.     Thank  you  very  much  for  your 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     51 

appreciative  words.  Your  visit  here 
was  a  great  inspiration  to  all  of  us.  It 
is  not  often  we  find  a  man  who  enters 
into  the  things  which  we  love  so  heart- 
ily as  you  have  done.  The  thing  that 
interested  us  especially  was  the  fact  that 
you  are  the  founder  of  a  new  and  wonder- 
ful movement,  which  is  bound  to  do  far 
more  for  the  advancement  of  the  princi- 
ples for  which  we  are  working  than  all 
that  we  have  done  or  anything  we  can 
do.  I  shall  await  with  great  interest 
the  development  of  your  work  and  shall 
expect  to  receive  great  light  from  your 
efforts.  We  are  all  in  training  to  find 
our  reflexes,  and  are  expecting  to  make 
a  great  deal  out  of  this." 

"BATTLE  CREEK,  MICH.,  Dec.  21,  1902. 
"  MY  DEAR  FRIEND  : 

"  I  have  received  the  beautiful  book 
which  you  sent  me,  '  That  Last  Waif,  or 
Social  Quarantine.'  It  is  a  charming 
volume.  I  devoured  it  eagerly,  and  I 
find  myself  in  the  position  of  an  eager 


52 

disciple  sitting  at  the  feet  of  a  master. 
Your  ideas  of  social  regeneration  strike 
deeper  than  those  of  any  other  modern 
author,  and  I  shall  be  glad  to  cooperate 
with  you  in  any  way  possible  in  promul- 
gating these  principles.  You  have  made 
your  book  talk  in  a  most  impressive 
way.  From  cover  to  cover  it  is  simply 
admirable  and  must  do  a  world  of  good. 
I  shall  write  a  little  notice  of  it  for  my 
journal,  Good  Health. 

"  Again  thanking  you  for  this  inter- 
esting volume,  I  remain, 

"  Most  sincerely  and  respectfully 
yours, 

"J.  H.  KELLOGG." 

"  BATTLE  CREEK,  MICH.,  Jan.  22,  1903. 
"  DEAR  FRIEND  : 

"  I  have  shamefully  neglected  you. 
I  want  to  assure  you  how  much  I  ap- 
preciate your  encouraging  notes.  I 
read  them  to  my  colleagues,  and  they 
were  so  much  affected  that  tears  came 
into  their  eyes.  I  assure  you  we  feel 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     53 

that  you  are  indeed  a  brother  to  us 
in  our  work,  and  that  God  has  provi- 
dentially sent  you  to  be  a  friend  to 
us  and  to  the  principles  which  we 
represent. 

"  I  had  a  letter  from  Dr.  Haig  a  few 
days  ago  in  which  he  mentioned  you 
and  your  work,  and  said  he  was  much 
interested  in  it.  Dr.  Haig,  you  know, 
has  done  a  great  deal  in  calling  atten- 
tion to  uric  acid  in  meats  and  other 
foods.  His  work  has  not  all  been  ac- 
cepted by  great  laboratory  men,  but 
Dr.  Hall,  of  Owen's  Medical  College  in 
Manchester,  has  recently  reinforced  his 
results.  I  have  at  different  times  re- 
peated his  experiments  with  interesting 
results. 

"  I  assure  you  we  shall  be  glad  to 
receive  any  suggestions  from  any  scien- 
tific authority  who  may  visit  us,  and  if 
there  is  any  part  of  our  work  which  can 
be  improved,  we  shall  be  glad  to  put  it 
there  as  soon  as  our  attention  is  called 
to  it. 


54    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

"  Again  thanking  you  for  your  kindly 
interest  in  our  work,  I  remain, 
"  Most  sincerely  yours, 

"  J.  H.  KELLOGG." 

"  BATTLE  CREEK,  MICH.,  Feb.  22,  1903. 
"Mv  DEAR  FRIEND: 

"  I  have  yours  of  January  29th.  I 
am  much  interested  in  what  you  write 
about  your  demonstration  at  New  Haven. 
I  want  to  give  the  widest  publicity  pos- 
sible to  your  work.  I  find  great  good 
in  it.  I  am  talking  to  my  patients 
continually  about  it.  I  know  from  my 
experience  that  you  are  right.  For 
many  years  I  have  required  my  patients 
to  give  special  attention  to  chewing,  and 
have  made  it  a  written  prescription  for 
each  patient  to  chew  a  saucerful  of  dry 
granose  flakes  at  the  beginning  of  each 
meal.  I  have  seen  great  good  from  this 
method. 

"  With  kindest  regards,  I  remain,  as 
ever, 

"  Most  sincerely  yours, 

"J.  H.  KELLOGG." 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     55 

"  BATTLE  CREEK,  MICH.,  March  16,  1903. 
"  DEAR  FRIEND  : 

"  I  am  exceedingly  interested  in  the 
facts  which  you  communicate,  especially 
Dr.  Anderson's  report.  It  is  quite  re- 
markable. I  am  verifying  the  same 
ideas  in  my  own  personal  experience. 
I  am  confident  you  have  discovered  a 
great  and  important  principle  and  I  shall 
watch  with  interest  future  developments. 
I  am  going  to  get  our  students  interested 
in  it.  If  you  feel  disposed  to  do  so,  I 
shall  be  glad  to  have  you  make  out  a 
little  line  of  experiments  which  will  tally 
with  the  experiments  which  you  have 
been  conducting,  so  the  results  may  be 
compared. 

"  I  have  in  hand  a  translation  of  Cor- 
naro's  work  which  I  have  been  thinking 
of  publishing.  It  occurred  to  me  that 
perhaps  you  would  be  able  to  write  a 
little  chapter  for  this  work,  or  an  intro- 
duction. I  am  going  to  get  it  out  in 
nice  shape,  and  I  trust  it  may  be  the 
means  of  doing  good  in  inclining  those 


56    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

who  read  it  toward  a  simpler  life.  I  am 
greatly  interested  in  the  ideas  which  you 
present  in  your  various  books. 

"  I  hope  you  will  have  a  safe  journey 
to  Italy  and  back. 
"  I  remain,  as  ever, 
"  Very  sincerely  and  respectfully 
yours, 

"J.  H.  KELLOGG." 

"BATTLE  CREEK,  MICH.,  March  22,  1903. 
"Mv  DEAR  MR.  FLETCHER: 

"  I  have  yours  of  March  igth.  I 
thank  you  very  much  for  promising  to 
write  an  introduction  for  the  edition  of 
Luigi  Cornaro's  life.  You  are  just  the 
man  to  do  it.  I  propose  to  get  the  book 
out  in  neat,  tasty  shape.  Shall  be  glad 
to  have  suggestions  from  you  on  this 
point.  The  manager  of  a  large  denomi- 
national publishing  house  in  Chicago  is 
interested  and  wants  to  publish  it  with 
us.  He  has  promised  to  help  about  the 
artistic  features. 

"  As  regards  our  medical  college,  I 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     57 

ought  to  have  told  you  that  we  are  in- 
corporated in  the  State  of  Illinois.  Our 
medical  school  is  really  legally  located 
in  Chicago.  We  always  have  one  or 
more  classes  down  there  for  dissection, 
clinical  work,  and  doing  dispensary  and 
missionary  work  in  the  city.  Our  school 
is  officially  recognised.  Our  diplomas 
are  recognised  in  this  country  and  in 
most  foreign  countries ;  our  diplomas 
are  recognised,  in  fact,  in  all  countries 
which  recognise  American  diplomas. 
The  work  done  in  our  school  is  recog- 
nised by  the  best  schools.  Jefferson 
accepts  students  from  our  third  year 
into  their  fourth,  the  graduating  year, 
without  examination.  Kings  College  in 
Kingston,  Canada,  does  the  same ;  also 
Trinity  College  in  Toronto,  and  other 
leading  schools  in  this  country.  Our 
College  is  a  member  of  the  American 
Medical  Association  along  with  Bellevue, 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  University 
of  Michigan,  Rush  Medical  College,  and 
other  leading  schools.  We  have  placed 


58     THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

our  standard  high  so  that  no  one  could 
object  to  the  reform  features  of  our 
work  on  account  of  incompetency.  Our 
students  are  admitted  to  practice  in 
New  York,  having  passed  the  exami- 
nations of  the  State  Board.  Our  best 
reason  for  believing  that  our  diplomas 
are  recognised  everywhere  is  because 
of  students  from  the  College  having 
passed  the  examinations  in  nearly  every 
State.  One  of  our  students  recently 
graduated  from  the  University  of  Dub- 
lin after  having  spent  a  year  there,  as 
they  require  five  years  instead  of  four 
years  as  with  us. 

"  Your  experiments  are  surpassingly 
interesting.  Your  performance  with  Dr. 
Anderson  was  phenomenal.  I  confess 
you  are  a  physiological  puzzle.  If  chew- 
ing accomplishes  these  wonderful  things 
for  you,  it  is  certainly  worth  the  while. 
I  am  training  myself  from  day  to  day 
to  masticate  my  food  more  and  more 
thoroughly  and  I  confess  there  is  greater 
good  in  it  than  I  ever  imagined. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     59 

"  I  am  sending  you  a  little  box  of  foods 
that  I  think  you  will  like,  especially  the 
protose  roast,  the  gluten  biscuit,  and 
the  chocolates. 

"  I  would  like  to  get  hold  of  a  list  of 
your  books ;  I  want  to  put  them  into  the 
hands  of  our  students  to  read.  Kindly 
give  me  a  list  of  the  names  and  the 
publishers  and  I  will  esteem  it  a  favour. 

"  I  might  have  said  further  in  refer- 
ence to  our  College  that  it  is  listed  by  the 
New  York  Board  of  Regents  as  well  as 
by  the  Illinois  State  Board  of  Health. 
We  are  going  to  make  considerable 
improvement  in  our  school  the  next 
year.  We  are  trying  to  put  up  a  new 
building.  We  need  $100,000  very  much, 
as  our  work  has  no  endowment  and  it 
requires  very  great  sacrifice  and  most 
strenuous  effort  to  keep  it  going.  Our 
teachers  work  for  a  mere  pittance  and 
our  students  are  compelled  to  save  and 
economise  in  every  way  to  get  through. 
Nearly  all  of  them  have  to  pay  their 
way  in  work  of  some  sort. 


60    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

"  By  the  way,  I  am  taking  liberty  to 
send  you  with  this,  copies  of  some  little 
booklets  which   I  have  just  gotten  out 
in  reference  to  our  work. 
"  I  am,  as  ever, 

"  Your  friend, 
"J.  H.  KELLOGG." 

"  BATTLE  CREEK,  MICH.,  June  24,  1903. 
"  MY  DEAR  FRIEND: 

"  I  have  your  kind  note  of  June  2ist. 
I  am  happy  to  be  remembered  by  you 
tho  I  have  neglected  writing  you.  I 
was  afraid  my  letter  would  not  find  you 
on  your  journeys. 

"  We  are  chewing  hard  out  here  at 
Battle  Creek,  chewing  more  every  day. 
We  are  continually  thinking  and  talk- 
ing of  you  and  the  wonderful  reform 
you  set  going.  We  have  gotten  up  a 
little  '  chewing  song '  which  we  sing  to 
the  patients.  It  is  only  doggerel  but 
it  helps  to  keep  the  idea  before  our 
people.  We  dedicated  it  to  you  and  I 
am  going  to  send  you  a  copy  of  it  as 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     6 1 

soon  as  the  printers  get  it  ready.  If  you 
feel  too  much  disgraced  I  will  take 
your  name  off. 

"  That  little  book  on  'Cornaro  '  is  not 
out  yet.  We  have  been  waiting  for 
the  introduction  from  you.  We  can 
wait  as  much  longer  as  is  necessary, 
as  you  are  the  man  to  furnish  this 
introduction. 

"I  hope  you  will  come  West  some 
time  this  summer  so  you  can  drop  in 
and  see  us  in  our  new  building.  We 
are  not  quite  in  perfect  running  order 
yet,  but  we  shall  soon  be  fixed  in  good 
shape  and  will  be  delighted  to  have 
you  with  us.  You  have  helped  us 
greatly  in  calling  our  attention  to  the 
great  importance  of  chewing.  We  had 
known  it  for  a  long  time  but  had  not 
practised  it.  You  demonstrated  the 
thing  in  such  a  graphic  way  that  the 
whole  world  is  constrained  to  listen. 
"  Thanking  you  for  your  kind  note, 
"  I  remain,  very  sincerely  yours, 

"J.  H.  KELLOGG." 


62     THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

"  BATTLE  CREEK,  MICH.,  July  23,  1903. 
"  MY  DEAR  MR.  FLETCHER  : 

"  I  have  your  kind  favour  of  July  14. 
You  are  doing  me  altogether  too  much 
honour.  I  am  only  a  plodding,  humble 
doctor,  and  have  never  had  any  oppor- 
tunity to  do  any  great  thing,  because  of 
the  limits  of  my  abilities,  and  because  I 
have  not  the  opportunity  to  devote  my 
energies  to  any  one  special  thing ;  but 
have  so  many  things  to  do  that  I  can  do 
nothing  very  well. 

"  I  remember  Dr.  Krauss  very  well. 
He  has  for  some  years  been  assistant 
to  Prof.  Winternitz,  the  Professor  of 
Nerve  Diseases  in  the  Medical  Depart- 
ment of  the  Royal  and  Imperial  Uni- 
versity of  Austria.  He  seemed  a  very 
able  physician  and  a  delightful  gentle- 
man. I  was  very  glad  to  meet  him. 

"  I  have  already  sent  you  a  copy  of  a 
little  booklet  entitled  '  The  Building  of 
a  Temple  of  Health.' 

"  We  will  be  most  happy  to  have  a 
visit  from  you.  I  would  like  to  know 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     63 

about  what  time  you  are  coining,  and  I 
will  endeavour  to  be  here.  I  have  a  call 
to  give  an  address  at  Chautauqua,  N.  Y., 
early  in  August,  and  if  I  do  not  know 
when  you  will  be  here,  I  might  possibly 
be  away,  which  I  should  consider  a 
great  misfortune. 

"  We  have  nothing  here,  I  am  sure, 
which  will  be  new  to  scientific  men, 
and  I  apprehend  that  they  will  have 
a  very  different  opinion  of  our  work 
than  you  have. 

"  I  have  a  little  book  which  I  think  I 
have  not  sent  you,  entitled  '  The  Living 
Temple.'  I  will  send  a  copy  to  you ; 
also  a  copy  of  the  '  Chewing  Song,' 
which  is  now  out.  It  is  nothing  but  a 
cheap  thing,  intended  only  for  my  own 
little  folks ;  but  it  got  out,  and  several 
people  wanted  it,  so  I  have  allowed  it 
to  be  put  in  print.  The  purpose  was, 
of  course,  simply  to  impress  the  chew- 
ing idea.  Of  course  you  are  well,  as 
you  are  apt  to  be  well  by  chewing 
well. 


64     THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

"  By  the  way,  I  met  a  disciple  of 
yours  a  day  or  two  ago.  He  was 
Senator  Burrows,  from  Kalamazoo.  He 
called  with  his  wife  and  some  other 
ladies,  and  Mr.  Rose,  the  chief  clerk  of 
the  U.  S.  Senate,  to  make  us  a  little 
visit.  I  had  a  very  delightful  chat  with 
them.  On  remarking  to  the  Senator 
that  he  did  not  look  any  older  than 
when  I  saw  him  last,  but  seemed  to 
be  very  well,  he  told  me  he  was  in 
perfect  health,  and  he  expected  to  live 
for  ever.  He  had  recently  gotten  hold 
of  something  that  was  doing  him  so 
much  good  that  he  believed  he  should 
never  be  sick.  I  begged  to  know  his 
secret,  and  found  it  was  chewing.  I 
asked  him  how  he  discovered  it,  and  he 
told  me  he  had  learned  it  from  your 
delightful  book.  You  are  certainly  pro- 
moting the  most  important  hygienic  re- 
form which  has  been  brought  forward  in 
modern  times.  When  you  visit  us  again, 
you  will  see  in  our  dining-room  of  our 
new  building  more  Horace  Fletcher  dis- 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     65 

ciples,  and  more  hard  chewers  than  you 
ever  saw  together  in  one  place  in  your 
life  before.  Our  doctors  and  helpers  are 
taking  hold  of  it  with  great  enthusiasm, 
and  I  trust  we  shall  be  able  to  render 
you  some  good  service  in  promoting 
this  good  idea,  for  which  you  certainly 
deserve  the  gratitude  of  the  whole 
world. 

"  Hoping  to  have  the  pleasure  of  a 
visit  from  you  soon,  I  remain,  as  ever, 

"  Yours  most  sincerely  and  respect- 
fully, 

"J.  H.  KELLOGG." 

"  BATTLE  CREEK,  MICH.,  Aug.  13,  1903. 
"  DEAR  FRIEND: 

"  Your  kind  notes  of  August  yth  and 
nth  received.  I  have  asked  the  Pub- 
lishing Department  to  open  an  account 
with  you  and  send  you  everything  you 
order  promptly  at  publisher's  discount. 

"  '  The  Living  Temple  '  is  published 
for  the  benefit  of  the  Sanitarium.    Every- 
thing received  from  it  goes  toward  pay- 
5 


66    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

ing  for  the  new  building.  The  cost  of 
printing,  paper,  and  binding  is  paid  for 
by  contributions,  so  all  the  money  re- 
ceived goes  toward  the  building  fund 
for  the  Sanitarium.  I  hope  by  this  and 
other  means  to  get  the  building  paid  for 
before  I  die. 

"  I  think  your  chewing  reform  is  of 
more  importance  to  the  world  than  you 
realise.  You  must  have  a  great  fund  of 
good  cheer  with  you  ;  doubtless  because 
you  chew !  I  told  our  patients  here  that 
I  had  heard  from  you  that  King  Edward 
was  chewing.  It  interested  and  amused 
them  very  greatly.  The  idea  of '  munch- 
ing parties  '  is  a  good  one. 
"  As  ever, 

"  Your  friend, 
"J.  H.  KELLOGG." 

"BATTLE  CREEK,  MICH.,  August  21,  1903. 
"  DEAR  MR.  FLETCHER  : 

"  I  have  yours  of  August  2oth  with 
the  list  of  persons  to  whom  you  desire 
to  have  'The  Living  Temple'  sent.  The 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     67 

books  are  already  sent  together  with  a 
little  note  calling  attention  to  them. 

"  Your  continued  courtesies  are  put- 
ting us  under  obligations  which  we  can 
never  repay. 

"  There  are  a  lot  of  devils  of  different 
sorts  to  be  cast  out,  and  I  am  sure  the 
dyspeptic  devil  is  about  the  worst  and 
the  meanest  of  them  all. 

"  A  quartette  sang  the  '  Chewing 
Song'  just  before  my  lecture  in  the  par- 
lour last  evening.  The  great  parlour  was 
filled  to  its  utmost  capacity.  The  people 
cheered  heartily,  not  at  the  singing  nor 
the  song,  but  the  sentiment.  I  took 
occasion  to  tell  them  I  thought  Mr. 
Horace  Fletcher,  in  inaugurating  the 
chewing  reform,  had  done  more  to  help 
suffering  humanity  than  any  other  man 
of  the  present  generation,  and  that  I  felt 
very  much  mortified  that  we  had  neg- 
lected this  important  matter  to  such 
an  extent  here  that  you  had  to  come  to 
the  Sanitarium  and  be  a  missionary  of 
good  health  and  urge  this  important 


68     THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

matter  upon  our  attention.  I  feel  that 
we  are  all  greatly  indebted  to  you,  and 
seem  to  be  getting  continually  more  and 
more  into  your  debt,  and  I  do  not  know 
any  way  to  discharge  the  obligation ; 
but  if  any  accident  should  ever  happen 
to  you  so  you  get  ill,  it  will  certainly  be 
a  delight  to  us  to  have  the  opportunity 
to  minister  to  you  if  you  will  permit  us 
so  to  do. 

"  I  am  glad  you  have  postponed  your 
visit  until  October,  as  by  that  time  we 
shall  have  many  things  in  better  work- 
ing order,  and  our  medical  class  will 
be  here.  I  want  to  have  our  medical 
students  meet  you. 

"  I  told  Mr.  Nichols  the  other  day  you 
were  coming  to  visit  us.  He  was  greatly 
delighted  to  hear  this.  He  feels  as  I  do 
that  the  work  which  you  have  inaugu- 
rated is  the  most  important  movement 
which  has  been  started  in  modern  times. 

"  I  remain,  as  ever, 

"  Fraternally  yours, 

"J.  H.  KELLOGG." 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     69 

"BATTLE  CREEK,  MICH.,  Sept.  30,  1903. 
"  DEAR  FRIEND  : 

"  I  have  your  kind  note  of  the  23d 
inst.  I  am  sure  that  one  of  my  letters 
to  you  has  been  lost.  I  wrote  promptly 
telling  you  that  you  were  at  liberty  to 
use  anything  I  have  written  you  respect- 
ing your  work. 

"  I  am  more  and  more  enthusiastic  re- 
specting the  value  of  thorough  chewing. 
I  have  read  with  great  interest  Dr.  Harry 
Campbell's  articles,  and  am  republishing 
in  Modern  Medicine  a  large  part  of  what 
he  has  written. 

"  I  have  been  thinking  whether  I 
might  dare  ask  permission  from  you  to 
publish  your  article  '  What  Sense  '  as  a 
tract.  Possibly  it  is  already  printed  in 
that  way.  I  would  like  to  circulate  it 
widely  among  my  patients,  and  our  nurses 
and  doctors.  I  am  doing  my  best  to  get 
them  all  to  chewing,  and  have  had  great 
benefit  myself  from  thorough  mastication. 

"  Our  Medical  School  has  just  begun 
again,  and  I  have  one  nice  class  of  six- 


70    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

teen  students  who  are  going  to  devote 
themselves  to  the  study  of  applied  phys- 
iology, and  all  of  them  will  experiment 
on  the  effects  of  thorough  mastication 
in  relation  to  the  quantity  of  food ;  also 
in  relation  to  the  quantity  of  proteids. 
If  you  would  like  the  details  of  the  re- 
sults of  the  experiments,  I  will  give  them 
to  you  later. 

"  By  the  way,  if  you  have  any  written 
or  printed  outline  of  data  which  you 
think  it  desirable  to  collect,  I  will  be 
glad  to  have  it  as  a  help  to  us  in  re- 
searches of  this  sort.  We  have  prepared 
our  laboratory  to  do  almost  anything 
that  needs  to  be  done,  and  we  have  a 
whole  lot  of  enthusiastic  young  men  and 
women  who  will  enter  into  this  thing 
with  great  zeal,  and  we  will  be  glad  to 
cooperate  with  you  thoroughly  as  I  feel 
that  you  have  introduced  a  line  of  re- 
search and  investigation  which  is  of 
immense  importance.  I  have  read  with 
great  interest  Prof.  Chittenden's  article 
in  the  Popular  Science  Monthly,  and 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     71 

I  can  but  feel  that  you  are  a  heaven-sent 
missionary  to  the  world  in  this  matter  of 
diet  reform. 

"  I  remain, 

"  As  ever  your  friend, 

"J.  H.  KELLOGG." 

"  P.  S.  —  I  have  for  many  years  given 
a  good  deal  of  attention  to  the  matter  of 
mastication.  It  has  been  my  regular 
prescription  for  all  my  patients  for  many 
years  to  eat  at  the  beginning  of  each  meal 
some  Granose  Flakes.  The  purpose  of 
this  was  to  secure  increased  activity  of 
the  salivary  glands,  and  to  encourage 
the  habit  of  mastication.  I  have  found 
immense  benefit  from  this  practice. 

"  I  appreciate  exceedingly  all  the  good 
things  you  are  sending  me.  What  a  de- 
lightful time  you  must  have  had  in  the 
Adirondacks !  I  have  never  had  such 
a  pleasure  in  my  life,  as  I  have  had  my 
nose  continually  on  the  grindstone  at 
work  since  I  was  ten  years  of  age,  with 
no  vacations  at  all.  It  is  a  remarkable 


72     THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

spectacle  that  these  great  men,  these 
learned  professors  and  scientists,  and 
army  medical  men,  should  be  coopera- 
ting so  enthusiastically  with  a  layman  to 
learn  the  true  philosophy  of  life ;  but  it 
has  always  been  so.  The  great  discov- 
eries have  not  been  made  by  great  scien- 
tists and  great  doctors,  but  by  men 
whose  minds  were  above  the  bias  of 
prescribed  education,  and  who  were  able 
to  learn  from  the  great  book  of  nature, 
which  is  the  book  of  God. 

"  When  you  come  again  I  hope  you 
will  have  time  to  stay  with  us  a  little 
while  so  we  can  have  some  good  chats. 
I  would  like  to  sit  down  and  go  into  the 
heart  of  things  with  you,  when  I  think 
we  should  find  our  ideas  running  very 
close  together.  We  shall  expect  to  see 
you  next  month.  I  have  to  be  away  for 
a  few  days  sometime  during  the  month, 
so  I  hope  you  will  let  me  know  a  little 
while  before  you  come  about  what  time 
to  expect  you. 

"J.  H.  K." 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     73 


EXTRACTS   FROM    DR.    EDWARD 
HOOKER   DEWEY 

(At  the  first  writing  Dr.  Dewey  had  had  the  method 
of  treating  food  commented  on  in  his  letters  under 
trial  for  three  years ;  it  having  been  communicated  to 
him  by  the  author  among  the  first.) 

"MEADVILLE,  PENN.,  Nov.  i7th,  1901. 
"  MY  DEAR  MR.  FLETCHER  : 

"  In  the  line  of  dietary  form  you  have 
done  better  work  than  the  entire  medi- 
cal profession  has  done  from  the  dawn 
of  History.  This  matter  of  eating  the 
way  you  preach  and  practise,  serves 
wonderfully  to  save  the  waste  of  energy, 
which  is  a  direct  robbery  of  brain 
power,  in  the  stomach.  It  also  saves 
an  undue  waste  of  food,  the  burden 
of  over-weight,  and  above  all  things, 
the  waste  of  disease.  You  should  en- 
large '  Glutton  or  Epicure '  and  push 
it.  My  allusion  to  this  little  book  in 
my  last  book  has  brought  me  many 
letters  of  inquiry,  and  I  always  com- 


74     THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

mend  it  as  a  work  of  the  highest  prac- 
tical importance. 

"  I  have  received  the  article  of  Dr. 
Van  Someren,  and  I  wish  I  had  scores 
of  them  to  send  to  my  patients.  I  have 
read  it  with  the  greatest  interest,  and 
shall  keep  it  most  of  the  time  in  the 
mail  pouches. 

"  In  these  latter  times  I  am  becoming 
more  and  more  impressed  with  the 
results  of  over-food  even  with  the 
well,  until  now  I  feel  that  the  pussy 
belly  is  a  matter  so  clearly  attribu- 
table to  gluttony  as  to  be  a  cause  of 
shame,  at  least,  in  the  physiological 
sense.  .  .  . 

"  I  hope  you  will  feel  it  a  duty  to  en- 
large and  expand  the  usefulness  of  '  Glut- 
ton or  Epicure.'  The  people  are  ripe  in 
this  country  for  just  such  a  book.  ...  I 
feel  that  you  are  doing  the  most  impor- 
tant work  in  physiological  investigation 
of  any  living  man,  and  we  in  this  coun- 
try, especially,  need  all  your  new  material 
as  an  addition  to  the  book.  . 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     75 

(Two  years  later;  after  five  years'  test.) 

July  2oth,  1903. 

"  What  you  have  done  to  unfold 
physiologic  mastication  means  more  for 
human  weal  than  all  the  mere  medical 
prescribers  have  given  the  world  from 
Adam  to  the  present  moment.  I  have 
tested  the  method  you  advise  with  the 
ailing,  as  you  could  not  have  had  so 
large  an  opportunity  to  do.  I  have 
been  having  the  care  of  fasters  for 
the  past  twenty-six  years,  and  now  all 
of  them,  when  they  return  to  their 
healthy  appetite  and  feeding,  have  to 
'  Fletcherise  '  every  morsel.  Just  now 
a  man  has  ended  a  thirty-two  day  fast 
under  my  care,  and  has  begun  taking 
food  again,  with  an  appetite  and  a  relish 
that  his  memory  does  not  recall  having 
enjoyed  before.  He  swallows  nothing 
that  is  not  reduced  to  thin  liquid. 
Only  occasional  abstinence  from  food 
for  a  time  and  such  attention  to  masti- 
cation, makes  health  possible  with  the 
majority  of  people,  tempted  by  quanti- 


76     THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

ties  of  soft  and  rich  foods.  No  other 
one  has  taught  so  wisely  how  available 
brain  power  can  be  saved  from  wastage 
in  the  stomach,  as  have  you —  the  value 
is  beyond  all  estimate. 

"  It  has  been  given  to  me  to  become  a 
teacher  among  those  who  have  neither 
time  nor  means  to  cultivate  health ; 
mine  to  teach  them  how  to  get  all  the 
health  possible,  without  the  use  of  any 
of  the  health  arts.  In  dispensing  the 
new  physiology  of  dietary  rest  I  have 
had  need  of  all  the  time  possible,  with 
none  left  for  the  experiments  of  science, 
hence  I  have  done  little  or  nothing  to 
speak  of  in  the  experiment  way  sug- 
gested in  your  letters. 

"  I  am  very  glad  to  hear  from  you 
again,  and  shall  be  pleased  to  have  you 
indicate  the  number  of  the  Popular 
Science  Monthly,  in  which  Professor 
Chittenden's  article  on  your  work  at 
Yale  appeared,  so  that  I  can  send  for 
it.  Think  of  this,  my  dear  Mr.  Fletcher, 
what  a  conservation  there  is  of  energy, 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     77 

brain-power-reserve  and  even  soul-force, 
in  saving  it  from  waste  in  worrying 
about  and  literally  pushing  quantities 
of  avoidable  rubbish  through  thirty  feet 
of  the  alimentary  canal;  and  this  is  just 
what  is  accomplished  by  your  method 
of  making  the  jaw  muscles  and  salivary 
glands  do  all  their  whole  duty  in  the 
matter  of  daily  food." 

September  jd,  1903. 

"  I  send  you  a  whole  cargo  of  thanks 
for  the  fine  book  you  sent  me  (Dr.  J.  H. 
Kellogg's  '  Living  Temple ')  and  the 
*  Chewing  Song '  (taught  and  used  as 
a  reminder  at  the  Battle  Creek  Sani- 
tarium). The  latter  is  the  most  impor- 
tant kind  of  a  song  ever  voiced  during 
the  age  of  man.  I  have  been  trying  to 
get  time  to  write  you  some  physiology, 
but  am  very  busy  with  my  correspon- 
dence with  distant  patients.  Will  do 
so  soon." 

September  I2th,  1903. 

"...  What  I  would  like  best  to 
express  to  you  is  my  appreciation  of 


the  exceeding  good  you  have  done  me 
in  teaching  how  to  save  energy  avail- 
able for  brain-power  by  '  Fletcherising ' 
all  foods  before  swallowing.  In  the 
case  of  dropsy,  I  have  previously  written 
about,  I  am  confident  the  sole  means 
of  success  that  is  being  accomplished 
now,  is  due  to  the  '  Fletcherising '  of  all 
morsels.  The  patient  spends  never  less 
than  an  hour  and  a  half  over  his  one 
meal  a  day.  At  the  end  of  his  former 
fast,  with  his  weight  of  250  Ibs.  cut 
down  to  125  Ibs.,  he  was  permitted  to 
take  six  meals  a  day,  and  in  a  few  weeks 
he  was  nearly  as  bad  as  ever,  with  his 
weight  raised  to  180  Ibs.  Under  my 
care,  and  after  only  a  seventeen-days'  fast 
(dietary  rest),  he  was  reduced  again  to 
i22*/£  Ibs.  There  has  since  been  a 
month  of  feeding  one  meal  a  day  by 
your  method,  with  weight  restored  to 
156  Ibs.  and  no  hint  of  returning  dropsy 
—  and  you  are  guilty  of  this,  for  no  other 
than  the  practice  of  thorough  mastication 
has  been  capable  of  such  curing  work. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     79 

"  Your  experiences,  as  detailed  in  the 
Popular  Science  Monthly  (June,  1903), 
were  read  with  absorbing  interest.  There 
is  no  more  important  work  for  man  to 
do  than  that  which  you  are  doing.  I 
have  not  the  patience  for  details,  and 
since  the  '  No  Breakfast  Plan '  has  be- 
come somewhat  known  to  the  world,  I 
have  been  too  busy;  but  the  more  I 
study,  and  study  you  in  particular,  the 
more  I  see  and  realise  what  of  crimes 
and  of  evil  desires  are  due  to  over- 
food  —  to  bolting  food. 

"Now  for  something  new!  In  an 
article  on  '  The  Mystery  of  Migrations  ' 
in  the  Saturday  Evening  Post  of  August 
22d  (1903),  it  is  given  out  that  all  mi- 
grating birds  let  their  last  meal  get  thor- 
oughly digested,  that  they  may  start  on 
their  long  flight  with  empty  stomachs; 
that  no  power  may  be  diverted  to  the 
digesting  machinery  of  their  stomach. 
What  is  the  significance  of  this  in  re- 
lation to  the  '  No  Breakfast  Plan  ? ' 
It  is  the  true  physiology  of  Instinct!" 


8o    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

(In  response  to  a  request  for  permission  to  quote 
his  appreciation.) 

September  I7th,  1903. 
"  DEAR  MR.  FLETCHER  : 

"  You  may  freely  state  my  views  of 
the  value  of  the  work  you  have  done 
for  humanity  better  than  I  have  done. 
Know  this ;  I  am  not  able  to  adequately 
express  my  own  appreciation  of  it,  as 
revealed  in  the  rooms  of  the  ailing 
throughout  several  years  of  experience, 
by  any  language  at  my  command.  Here 
is  something  formal,  if  you  like  to  use 
it 

"  Yours  with  admiration  and  gratitude, 
"  E.  H.  DEWEY." 

"  P.  S.  The  matter  of  thorough  mas- 
tication, as  unfolded  and  insisted  on  by 
Horace  Fletcher,  is  the  greatest  prac- 
tical physiology  that  a  dyspeptic,  glut- 
tonous world  ever  has  received.  The 
discovery  of  its  importance  of  mouth- 
work,  in  saving  the  strain  of  over-work 
in  the  stomach  and  in  the  intestines, 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     8 1 

"will  do  more  to  prevent  disease  than  all 
other  precautions.  This  is  all  the  more 
wonderful  when  it  is  considered  that 
Mr.  Fletcher  is  a  layman.1 

"  Here   is   the    physiology   involved, 

1  Dr.  Dewey's  expression  of  surprise  at  the  lay 
incompetence  of  the  author  is  interesting  in  view  of 
the  fact  that  he  himself  is  responsible  for  the  untitled, 
unprofessional  deficiency  at  which  he  wonders.  When 
the  author  met  Dr.  Dewey,  in  Dayton,  Ohio,  where  he 
was  conducting  some  experiments,  in  1898,  he  was 
then  on  the  point  of  taking  up  a  complete  medical 
course  with  a  post-graduate  course  of  research-physi- 
ology in  order  to  give  character  to  his  authority  in  ad- 
vancing the  cause  of  his  amateurish  discovery,  as 
related  in  this  book.  There  were  the  time,  the 
energy,  the  means  and  the  inclination  of  a  student's 
craving  inviting  him  to  take  the  whole  course  to  M.D. 
degree ;  but  Dr.  Dewey  advised  "  no."  "  Don't  you 
do  it,"  said  he,  "you  are  doing  good  work  as  it  is; 
you  will  be  more  or  less  influenced  by  existing  stand- 
ards which  may  be  errors,  and  you  may  get  switched 
off  the  natural  track.  Study  your  physiology  after 
you  have  made  your  observations."  Dr.  Dewey  has 
forgotten  his  advice  of  five  years  ago,  but  it  was 
followed.  Living  almost  constantly  in  an  open-air 
and  open-mind  atmosphere  of  research  in  alimentary 
physiology  ever  since,  thanks  to  Dr.  Dewey's  sugges- 
tion, the  author  has  escaped  the  abnormal  physiology 
which  medicine  deals  with,  and  he  is  more  and  more 
thankful  for  the  escape  as  time  reveals  that  open-air 
and  open-mindedness  are  good,  both  for  the  soul  and 
for  bodily  comfort  and  health. 
6 


82     THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

as  I  find  the  effect  of  it  in  the  sick-room. 
Theoretically,  digestion  may  take  place 
far  down  in  the  digestive  tract,  but  it  is 
practically  found  that  when  this  possi- 
bility is  resorted  to,  by  reason  of  neglect 
of  the  earlier  buccal  or  gastric  digestion, 
trouble  soon  happens,  and  we  doctors 
are  called  in  to  try  to  effect  cures  by 
medicine  or  otherwise.  For  every  one 
horse-power  of  work,  as  it  were,  that  is 
slighted  in  the  mouth,  it  requires  per- 
haps ten  horse-power  of  energy  to  repair 
the  neglect  further  on,  and  all  of  this 
waste  of  energy  is  charged  against  the 
brain-power,  pleasure-power  reserve  on 
storage. 

"  As  I  read  the  account  of  Mr.  Fletch- 
er's showing  of  heat-economy,  reported 
by  Professor  Chittenden  in  his  Popular 
Science  Monthly  article,  and  which  was 
verified  in  the  calorimeter  measurement 
at  Middletown,  I  see  at  once,  from  my 
own  observations,  that  half  the  heat 
commonly  used  in  the  human  engine  is 
occupied  in  forcing  the  unnecessary 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     83 

waste  through  thirty  feet  of  intestinal 
folds  and  convolutions." 

The  author  feels  very  grateful  to  Dr. 
Dewey,  not  alone  for  his  encouragement, 
but  for  the  service  he  has  rendered 
humanity  by  his  heroic  stand  for  tem- 
perance in  feeding.  He  is  one  of  the 
sturdy  Esculapian  Luthers,  whose  cry 
of  reform  comes  from  the  impulse  of  an 
inborn  Christian  Altruism. 

When  it  becomes  generally  known, 
as  it  some  day  will  be,  that  over-eating 
and  wrong-eating  are  the  prime  causes 
of  temptation  to  intemperance  in  drink- 
ing, the  measure  of  Dr.  Dewey's  service 
to  the  Temperance  Cause  will  be  better 
appreciated. 


84     THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 


AN    AGREEABLE  ENDURANCE 
TEST 

After  this  volume  was  published  in 
1898,  the  field  of  experiment  was 
changed  from  the  United  States  to 
Europe.  The  physical  exercise  and 
mental  recreation  of  the  summer  of 
1899  consisted  partly  of  bicycling.  We 
landed  in  Holland,  toured  Holland, 
Belgium,  and  Northern  France,  and 
reached  Paris  in  the  course  of  about 
two  months,  and  with  upwards  of  five 
hundred  miles'  wheeling.  For  another 
month  we  bicycled  leisurely  around 
Paris  and  added  two  or  three  hundred 
miles  to  our  cyclometer  record.  During 
the  month  of  July  the  author  further 
rode  some  seven  hundred  miles  in  and 
about  the  Forest  of  Fontainebleau. 

The  idea  of  an  endurance-test  was 
suggested  to  the  author  by  the  ease 
with  which  he  accomplished  a  century 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     85 

of  miles  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  1899. 
Being  in  Paris,  and  wishing  to  celebrate 
a  most  beautiful  summer  day  and  our 
National  Holiday  at  the  same  time,  an 
early  start  was  made  and  the  beauty  of 
the  day,  the  charm  of  the  golden  har- 
vest fields  lying  between  Paris  and  the 
Forest  of  Fontainebleau,  and  the  noble 
forest  itself,  led  us  on  and  on  until  the 
cyclometer  showed  a  distance,  for  the 
forenoon  run,  of  slightly  more  than 
eighty  kilometers  (fifty  miles)  in  a 
straight-away  line  from  hotel  and  home 
in  Paris.  Two  years  before,  fifty  miles 
on  bicycle,  even  when  accustomed  to 
riding  daily  during  the  craze  for  bicy- 
cling, which  was  then  at  its  zenith,  if 
done  in  one  day,  would  have  completely 
"  done  the  author  up  "  and  would  have 
called  for  several  days  of  rest  for  recu- 
peration. In  the  present  case,  however, 
no  fatigue  had  yet  been  experienced  and 
the  day  was  still  young. 

The  forest  studio-home  of  friend  Red- 
field,  the  Philadelphia  landscapist,  was 


86     THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

found  on  the  edge  of  the  forest  border- 
ing the  Seine  at  Brolles,  and  we  went 
for  a  spin  together  and  finally  returned 
awheel  to  Paris.  To  make  a  "century 
run"  in  a  day  had  always  seemed  to  the 
author  a  feat  for  athletes  and  experts 
only,  and  when  he  found  that  he  had 
made  it  without  any  inconvenience  and 
was  in  no  way  painfully  conscious  of  it 
next  day,  the  ambition  to  see  what  really 
could  be  done  was  born.  It  would  give 
practical  measure  of  the  improvement 
due  to  an  economical  nutrition.  It  was 
known  what  the  newly  ambitious  con- 
testant for  a  record  could  not  do  two 
years  before,  but  it  was  now  uncertain 
what  he  might  be  able  to  do  under  changed 
condition  of  health  even  with  two  years' 
additional  handicap  of  age ;  besides,  it 
happened  to  be  the  half-century  year  of 
the  author's  life  and  a  good  time  to  jot 
down  a  record  of  a  new  start  in  life. 

Reference  to  "economical  nutrition" 
in  connection  with  a  full  measure  of 
recreation  needs  some  explanation.  To 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     87 

be  economical  means  to  most  persons 
privation  of  pleasure.  It  is  true  that  the 
economic  standard  attained  by  Luigi 
Cornaro  had  been  maintained  with  ease 
by  the  author  since  the  beginning  of 
his  experiments  in  the  summer  of  1898. 
This  was  not  accomplished  by  trying 
to  emulate  Cornaro's  example,  but  was 
reached  by  a  method  of  taking  food,  and 
developed  in  the  course  of  a  special 
study  of  the  economic  natural  require- 
ments. The  author  ate  just  what  his 
appetite  called  for,  as  nearly  as  circum- 
stances of  supply  permitted,  he  ate  all 
that  his  appetite  would  allow;  enjoyed 
a  gustatory  pleasure  that  had  never  been 
equalled  under  old  habits  of  taking  food, 
and  was  a  distinct  epicurean  gainer 
by  the  economy  learned  and  practised. 
But  —  and  in  this  "but"  lies  the  secret — 
the  solid  food  had  been  munched  ap- 
preciatively until  it  was  liquefied  and 
a  strong  Swallowing  Impulse  compelled 
its  deglutition.  The  sapid  and  nutri- 
tious liquids  were  tasted  as  the  wine 


88    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

tasters  taste  wine,  as  tea  tasters  taste 
tea,  and  as  all  experts  test,  or  "  Get 
the  Good"  out  of,  anything.  Instead 
of  being  drunk  down  in  a  flood  like 
water,  which  has  no  taste  and  no  rea- 
son to  stay  in  the  region  of  taste, 
delicious  country  milk  was  sipped  and 
tasted  with  the  end  of  the  tongue, 
where  the  best  taste-buds  are,  until  it 
disappeared  by  natural  absorption.  In 
this  way  the  milk  was  fully  enjoyed, 
largely  assimilated,  and,  as  the  result  of 
almost  subsisting  on  bread  and  milk 
alone,  at  times,  in  response  to  the  coun- 
try appetite,  the  disproportionately  ex- 
cessive waste  usually 'encountered  when 
pursuing  a  milk-diet  was  not  expe- 
rienced; the  digestion-ash  (solid  ex- 
creta) was  extremely  small  and  averaged 
only  about  one-tenth  of  the  amount  com- 
monly wasted  in  the  digestive  process 
in  ordinary  habits  of  taking  bread  and 
milk  hastily  and  carelessly. 

It  is  significant  that,  while  the  quan- 
tity of  food  habitually  taken  was  about 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     89 

one-third  of  the  text-book  normal-aver- 
age prescription,  the  solid  waste  was 
only  a  tenth  of  the  usual  amount,  show- 
ing a  much  more  economical  digestion 
and  a  better  assimilation.  This  possi- 
bility of  a  profitable  and  an  agreeable 
economy  was  afterwards  verified  in  the 
Venice  experiments. 

An  aesthetic  result  was  attained  in 
connection  with  these  experiments  which 
cannot  be  too  often  advertised.  All  pu- 
trid bacterial  decomposition  was  avoided 
in  the  process  of  digestion,  and  all  sense 
of  muscular  fatigue  was  absent,  even  fol- 
lowing strenuous  and  unusual  exercise. 

Instead  of  involving  deprivation  and 
asceticism,  that  mid-summer  month  in 
the  Forest  of  Fontainebleau,  occupied  in 
making  an  economy  and  an  endurance- 
test,  was  a  carnival  of  tempting  plenty 
in  the  way  of  good  food  enjoyed  to 
the  full  satisfaction  of  a  healthy  appe- 
tite. The  endurance-test  recounted  in 
the  letter  following  is  evidence  of  the 
effect  of  such  sumptuousness  when  ap- 


90    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

preached  by  different  methods  of  grati- 
fication. The  powerful  young  artist 
who  volunteers  the  story  lived  in  the 
ordinary  way  and  the  aged  reformer  and 
research-dietetician,  whom  the  young 
athlete  paced,  treated  his  food  as  rec- 
ommended in  this  book. 

EDWARD  W.  REDFIELD'S  EVIDENCE 

(In  response  to  an  invitation  to  recount  his  remem- 
brance of  the  test  after  a  lapse  of  four  years.) 

"  CENTRE  BRIDGE,  PENN. 
"Mv  DEAR  MR.  FLETCHER: 

"  My  remembrance  of  the  trip  is  as 
follows:  On  August  loth,  1899,  I  was 
spending  the  summer  at  Brolles,  on  the 
border  of  the  Forest  of  Fontainebleau  in 
France,  when  you  came  to  visit  me  and 
enjoy  the  forest  at  the  same  time  that 
you  were  conducting  some  chewing  ex- 
ercises and  planning  an  endurance-test 
on  bicycle  on  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of 
your  birthday.  You  were  quietly  liv- 
ing then  according  to  the  regimen  with 
which  your  name  is  now  connected  and 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     9 1 

I  was  pursuing  the  ordinary  habits  of 
life  which  are  common  to  artists  abroad. 
The  test  was  not  only  to  determine  the 
endurance  of  yourself,  but  to  furnish  a 
contrast  with  ordinary  conditions  of  nu- 
trition. We  were  eating  at  the  same 
table,  with  the  same  food  available  to 
each,  and  were  taking  about  the  same 
amount  of  physical  exercise.  We  turned 
in  at  night  at  the  same  time,  as  people 
are  apt  to  do  in  the  country,  and  it  was 
my  custom  to  rise  at  or  before  daylight. 
This  habit  of  early  rising  came  natural 
to  me  from  my  farmer  education  and 
habitual  practice,  and  yet  I  never  could 
surprise  you  early  enough  to  catch  you 
asleep.  My  first  thought  on  getting  out 
was  to  stop  under  your  window  and 
chant  the  refrain,  '  Mr.  Fletcher,  are  you 
up?'  in  imitation  of  the  catch-line  of  a 
popular  song  of  the  year.  Frequently 
the  click  of  your  type-writer  warned  me 
that  you  were  already  at  work,  but  you 
were  always  awake  and  ready  for  'any- 
thing doing.' 


92     THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

"  I  was,  at  the  time,  thirty  years  of 
age  and  thought  myself  in  good  condi- 
tion and  strong  even -for  a  farmer's  boy; 
had  previously  done  considerable  long- 
distance road-riding,  including  League 
of  American  Wheelmen  runs,  etc.,  in 
competition  with  the  '  cracker  jacks  ' ; 
and,  to  be  frank  with  you,  thought  the 
agreement  to  pace  you  on  that  particu- 
lar day  a  '  snap,'  and  I  expected  to  lose 
you  in  the  woods  before  long. 

"  The  day  was  perfect,  rather  warm, 
as  I  remember  it,  and  with  little  or  no 
breeze.  Our  start  was  made  at  3.55 
A.M.  (arose  at  3.30).  Course  selected: 
To  Fontainebleau  and  thence  across 
country  to  Orleans,  about  one  hundred 
kilometers  distant  from  Brolles.  I  con- 
sidered Orleans  the  limit  and  fully  ex- 
pected to  have  you  return  by  railway 
from  there. 

"  We  were  running  at  the  rate  of 
twenty  to  twenty-two  kilometers  the 
hour,  and  from  time  to  time  I  would 
look  back  for  Fletcher,  but  he  was  al- 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE      93 

ways  at  the  same  place  at  my  rear 
wheel.  A  puncture  delayed  us  for 
some  fifteen  minutes,  but  when  the 
great  cathedral  bell  of  Orleans  struck 
nine  we  were  already  there  taking  our 
first  food  of  the  day,  coffee  and  cres- 
cent rolls. 

"We  again  started,  after  a  short  rest, 
down  the  Loire,  always  holding  the  pace 
of  twenty  kilometers  or  better  the  hour 
in  spite  of  the  undulations.  We  stopped 
occasionally  for  water  and  milk,  a  single 
tumblerful  of  which  satisfied  both  the 
thirst  and  the  hunger  of  yourself. 

"  To  me,  the  ride,  at  about  this  period, 
became  a  grind,  but  Fletcher  seemed  to 
get  stronger  and  stronger  and  occasion- 
ally led  the  pace  at  a  terrific  clip.  My 
condition,  as  we  neared  Blois,  became 
more  than  bad  with  cramps  in  the  legs. 
I  had  to  dismount  but  could  n't  stand 
up,  and  for  awhile,  I  thought  they  would 
have  to  carry  me  home.  I  appreciated 
the  kind  inquiries  sympathetically  made 
and  oft-repeated  by  yourself  as  to  my 


94     THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

condition,  but  had  you  known,  at  the 
time,  how  I  was  cussing  your  healthy 
appearance  and  impatience  to  proceed, 
you  would  n't  have  bothered  me  so  much 
with  your  sympathy.  After  a  partial 
recovery  and  the  slow  ride  into  Blois, 
six  kilometers  away,  I  left  you,  taking 
the  train  back  to  Paris,  you  having 
decided  to  go  it  alone  for  the  rest  of 
the  day  and  thus  complete  the  test. 

"  The  arrival  at  Blois  was  about  1.30 
P.M. (170  kilometers  —  a  little  above  100 
miles)  and  took  about  nine  hours,  in- 
cluding stops,  to  accomplish.  The  next 
morning  we  received  your  dispatch  from 
Saumur,  nearly  another  hundred  miles 
down  the  Loire,  telling  us  that  the  run 
to  that  point  had  been  completed  by 
10.10  P.M.  that  night,  and  Mr.  Fletcher 
returned  the  next  day  as  fresh  and  as 
strong  as  I  had  ever  seen  him  at  any 
time  during  the  summer. 

"  Starting  the  day  following  with  wife 
and  daughter  for  a  bicycle  ride  through 
France  to  Switzerland  I  accompanied 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE      95 

your  party  as  far  as  Geneva,  and  the 
only  thing  I  could  n't  discover  was  how 
a  man  who  ate  so  little  could  travel  so 
far  and  seem  never  to  get  tired. 

(Signed)       "  Very  sincerely, 

"E.  W.  REDFIELD." 

"Sept.  i ;th,  1903." 


TEST    COMPLETED 

The  experience  of  the  author  on  that 
eventful  fiftieth  birthday,  as  registered 
in  the  successive  sensations,  is  worthy 
of  record. 

In  starting  out  in  the  cool  of  the 
morning  as  the  day  was  dawning,  and 
speeding  through  the  beautiful  Forest  of 
Fontainebleau,  the  feeling  of  exhilaration 
was  indescribable.  An  hour  or  two 
passed  before  there  was  any  sense  of 
unpleasantness  attaching  to  the  steady 
grind  of  duty  which  led  us  to  pass  re- 
luctantly by  inviting  spots  and  scenes 
without  stopping.  In  the  beginning 
there  was  the  keenest  feeling  of  pleasure 


96     THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

in  the  mere  movement,  without  any  ex- 
ertion, over  and  among  an  enchanting 
landscape.  It  was  what  one  might  call 
a  birdlike  sensation  of  freedom  of  move- 
ment which  bicycling  and  skating, 
among  the  common  means  of  locomo- 
tion, alone  give. 

Redfield  did  not  let  up  on  the  pace 
and  I  was  determined  not  to  beg  for 
respite.  Between  fifty  and  sixty  kilo- 
meters of  distance  only  had  been  made 
when  I  felt  that  the  day  was  not  pro- 
pitious for  an  endurance-test,  and  I  fully 
expected  to  be  compelled  to  return  from 
Orleans  leisurely  in  the  afternoon  and 
evening  by  wheel  with  only  a  slight 
addition  to  the  century-run  of  the  pre- 
ceeding  Fourth  of  July  accomplished. 
Before  Orleans  was  reached,  however, 
all  sense  of  strain  passed,  and  second- 
wind  and  second-strength  had  become 
installed  for  the  day.  When  I  left  Red- 
field  at  Blois  I  felt  stronger  than  any 
time  before,  and  as  eager  to  kick  the 
pedals  as  when  we  started  in  the  morn- 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     97 

ing  and  as  one  always  is  prompted  to 
do  when  one  is  filled  with  surplus  energy. 
I  had  no  objective  point  and  was  guided 
only  by  tempting  roads  and  favouring 
breezes.  The  river  road  down  the  Loire 
was  most  promising  at  first,  but  a  head 
wind  sprang  up  and  made  a  detour  the 
other  side  of  Blois  more  tempting  by 
argument  of  a  fair  wind  that  blew  down 
one  of  the  roads  leading  away  from  the 
river.  For  a  time  I  made  full  twenty- 
five  kilometers  an  hour,  but  the  wind 
died  out  and  I  returned  to  the  river  road 
and  reached  Tours  in  time  for  the  enjoy- 
ment of  a  magnificent  sunset  effect  and 
a  most  appetising  and  satisfying  table 
d'hote  dinner.  Before  dining  I  jumped 
into  a  tub  and  had  a  good  refreshing 
dip  and  a  vigorous  rub  which  made 
me  feel  like  going  out  to  take  a  walk 
or  mount  my  wheel  again.  My  appe- 
tite for  dinner  was  not  large,  centred 
on  a  salad  richly  dressed  with  olive  oil, 
and  was  quickly  appeased  ;  immediately 
after  which  I  mounted  my  wheel  again 

7 


98     THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

and  proceeded  down  the  beautiful  road 
towards  Saumur.  My  ambition  was 
here  raised  to  complete  300  kilometers 
and  the  distance  to  Saumur  just  about 
filled  that  ambition.  I  rode  leisurely  for 
a  time  after  dining  and  then  gradually 
increased  the  speed  to  about  eighteen 
kilometers  an  hour,  which  brought  me  to 
my  destination  a  little  past  ten,  with  a  feel- 
ing of  sleepiness  that  invited  to  a  hasty 
falling  into  bed,  but  with  surprisingly 
little  or  no  sense  of  muscular  fatigue. 
My  cyclometer  registered  a  little  more 
than  304  kilometers,  or  190  miles;  not 
much  for  experts,  under  the  conditions, 
to  be  sure,  but  a  revelation  of  possibilities 
to  a  man  of  fifty  who  had  once,  not  many 
years  before,  been  denied  life  insurance 
on  account  of  health  disability.  This 
was  worth  more  than  millions  of  money 
to  me;  and  no  one  knows  how  much  it 
will  signify  to  the  human  family  when 
the  knowledge  of  a  truly  economic  nutri- 
tion is  attained  and  established. 

I  was  bright  awake  at  daylight  the  next 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     99 

morning  and  had  the  impulse  to  mount 
my  wheel  and  see  how  "  fit "  I  was  in  con- 
sequence of  my  exertion  of  the  day  before. 
This  I  did,  and  rode  eighty  kilometers 
(fifty  miles)  before  breaking  my  fast  at 
nine  o'clock.  I  believe  I  could  have 
ridden  as  far  that  day  had  the  conditions 
been  favourable.  My  weight,  on  return  to 
my  balances  at  Brolles,  was  reduced  two 
kilograms  (nearly  five  pounds),  but  a  gen- 
erous thirst  for  a  day  or  two,  and  a  slightly 
increased  appetite  put  the  loss  back  again 
inside  a  week  even  while  riding  my 
wheel  daily  on  the  way  to  Geneva. 

Since  reaching  Italy,  and  abiding  in 
Venice,  there  have  been  long  periods 
when  no  systematic  physical  exercise 
has  been  indulged  in.  Once,  after 
nearly  a  year  of  physical  inactivity,  I 
took  with  me  an  attendant  and  made 
an  average  of  seventy-five  miles  a  day 
in  the  mountain  districts  of  southern 
Germany  for  observation  of  increase  of 
food  requirement  during  hard  work. 
Neither  muscular  soreness,  nor  muscular 


100    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

fatigue,  except  the  periodical  weariness 
of  sleepiness,  were  experienced  as  the 
result  of  the  sudden  change  from  the 
most  restful  environment  to  strenuous 
activity;  and  herein  lies  a  physiological 
question  that  is  far-reaching  in  its  signifi- 
cance. It  would  seem  that  Appetite,  in 
its  normal  condition,  assisted  in  its  dis- 
crimination by  careful  mouth-treatment 
of  food,  guards  the  body  from  excess  and 
keeps  it  always  "  in  training."  The  later 
experience  at  Yale  University  under  Dr. 
Anderson  and  Professor  Chittenden 
showed  the  same  immunity  from  mus- 
cular disability,  and  has  brought  the 
question  to  good  hands  for  solution. 

The  author  has  voluminous  data 
relative  to  his  work,  but  it  is  not  appli- 
cable to  any  other  person.  Each  person 
is  a  law  unto  himself  and  no  two  sets  of 
conditions  are  alike.  Treat  your  food 
as  advised  herein  and  get  surprising  new 
experiences  for  yourselves,  is  the  advice 
and  moral  of  the  story. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    IOI 


GENERAL   OBSERVATIONS 

HEALTH,  HARMONY  AND 
HAPPINESS 

Health,  Harmony  and  Happiness 
are  the  natural  heritage  of  man. 

The  human  body  is  the  most  perfect 
piece  of  mechanism  possible  to  imagine. 

The  human  body  is  intended  to 
nourish  Health,  maintain  Harmony,  and 
conserve  Happiness. 

#        #        # 

The  body  machine  is  self-building  or 
self-growing,  self-lubricating  and  self- 
repairing. 

A  simple  knowledge,  only,  is  neces- 
sary for  proper  (preventive)  care  of  the 
body  machine. 

All  that  Nature  requires  of  man  is 
to  supply  fuel  preferred  and,  therefore, 
prescribed  by  Normal  Appetite  and  to 


102    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

direct  the  energy  generated  along  allur- 
ing lines  of  usefulness. 

*        *        # 

Nature  requires  no  sacrifices  and 
imposes  no  penalties  for  obeying  her 
beneficent  demands. 

Natural  Laws  are  easily  compre- 
hended if  studied  objectively. 

Ill  health,  inharmony  and  unhappi- 
ness  come  only  from  disobeying  Nature. 

God  (obeyed)  is  Only  Good. 

NATURE   STUDY 

Nature  cannot  be  profitably  studied 
alone  through  books. 

Nature  has  a  separate  message  for 
each  intelligence. 

Each  body  machine  has  peculiari- 
ties which  the  possessor  alone  can 
understand. 

Object  lessons,  personally  experi- 
enced or  observed,  are  the  best. 

"  Once  seeing  (or  feeling)  is  worth 
an  hundred  times  telling  about,"  is  a 
wise  Japanese  proverb ;  and  it  is  true. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    103 

As  the  swinging  pendulum  taught 
Galileo,  and  the  falling  apple  suggested 
to  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  the  law  of  gravity, 
in  like  manner  the  modern  electric 
power-plant  teaches  us,  by  analogies, 
suggestions  useful  in  the  study  of  our- 
selves —  our  own  Mind  Power-Plant. 


OLD   AND   NEW 

THE    OLD    IDEAS 

The  old  religion  condemned  man, 
even  though  unenlightened,  to  perdi- 
tion and  saved  him  only  through  special 
dispensation. 

The  old  education  insisted  on  narrow 
formulas  and  tried  to  cram  all  mentality 
into  prescribed  moulds. 

The  old  physiology  presupposed  dis- 
ease and  glorified  pathology. 

THE    NEW    STUDY 

The  new  religion  glorifies  Love, 
stimulates  Appreciation  and  preaches 
only  Optimism. 


104    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

The  new  pedagogy  aims  to  discover 
the  useful  tendency  with  which  each 
creature  is  equipped  at  birth  and  to 
cultivate  this  God-given  inclination  as 
designed  by  the  Creator. 

The  new  physiology  studies  Hygiene 
and  assists  Nature  by  securing  Preven- 
tion to  avoid  the  necessity  of  correction 
and  cure. 

SAFE    HYPOTHESES 

Assuming  that  Nature's  intentions 
are  only  right,  ill-health  is  unnatural. 

If  Nature's  invitations,  as  expressed 
by  Normal  Appetite,  are  rightly  inter- 
preted, good  health  must  result. 

When  there  is  bad  health  Nature 
has  been  disobeyed. 

A    REASONABLE    CONCLUSION 

If  Physiology  has  failed  to  teach 
a  way  to  maintain  perfect  health  some 
of  her  hypotheses  must  be  wrong. 

If  any  of  the  hypotheses  of    Physi- 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    105 

ology  are  discredited  any  one  of  them 
may  be  doubted.1 

1  Since  this  was  written,  the  then  accepted  stand- 
ards of  human  food  requirements  have  not  only  been 
questioned  but  have  been  discredited  and  disproved. 
The  great  importance  of  mouth-work  in  the  economics 
of  digestion  has  been  demonstrated  and  accepted. 


106    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 


OUR   NATURAL   GUARDIANS 

THE   SENSES 

GUIDING    SUPPOSITIONS 

The  stomach  and  other  hidden  parts 
of  the  body  have  automatic  functions  in- 
dependent of  the  will  that  perform  diges- 
tion ;  these  functions  are  beyond  the 
scope  of  control,  and  hence  means  of 
preventing  ill-digestion  must  be  studied 
by  the  aid  of  the  exterior  sensations. 

Sight,  Appetite,  Touch  and  Taste 
are  the  senses  useful  in  selection  of 
food  and  in  the  prevention  of  indigestion. 

Sight  and  Appetite  relate  to  invi- 
tation and  selection,  while  Touch  and 
Taste  are  discriminators  and  indicators 
of  conditions. 

Appetite  and  Taste  are  the  sense 
functions  that  are  most  important  to 
health,  and  hence  they  are  the  most  im- 
portant to  study  and  understand.  They 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    107 

are  the  guide  in  nutrition  and  the  guard 
of  the  body  machine  —  the  Mind  Power- 
Plant. 

Smell  also  is  an  important  aid  in 
selection  and  discrimination  and  is  an 
effective  assistant  of  Appetite. 

APPETITE    AND    TASTE    ANALYSED 

Appetite  should  be  dignified  and 
recognised  as  a  distinct  sense. 

Normal  Appetite  is  Nature's  means 
of  indicating  her  fuel  and  repair  re- 
quirements for  the  Mind  Power-Plant. 

Study  Normal  Appetite  and  heed  its 
invitation.  It  prescribes  wisely.  Its 
mark  of  distinction,  to  differentiate  it 
from  False  Appetite,  is  "  watering  of  the 
mouth  "  for  some  particular  thing. 

False  Appetite  is  an  indefinite  crav- 
ing for  something,  ANYTHING  !  to  smother 
disagreeable  sensations  and  frequently  is 
expressed  by  the  symptom  of  "faint- 
ness  "  or  "  All-gone-ness."  [Vide  the 
"  A.B.-Z.  of  OUR  OWN  NUTRITION."] 

Taste   is   the   chemist  of  the  body; 


108    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

of  the  Mind  Power-Plant.  More  cor- 
rectly, perhaps,  it  is  the  report  of  a 
chemical  process  relating  to  nutrition. 

Taste  is  an  evidence  of  nutrition. 
While  taste  lasts  a  necessary  process  is 
going  on. 

Taste  should,  therefore,  be  carefully 
studied  and  understood. 

Both  Taste  and  Appetite  differ  in 
different  individuals  and  in  the  same 
individual  under  different  conditions  of 
thought  or  activity. 

Taste  is  also  dependent  on  supply  of 
the  mouth  juices  usually  called  saliva, 
and  these  differ  materially  in  individuals, 
necessitating  self-study,  self-understand- 
ing, and  self-care  to  insure  prevention 
of  indigestion  and  disease. 

The  most  important  part  of  nutrition 
is  the  right  preparation  of  food  in  the 
mouth  for  further  digestion. 

The  most  important  discovery  in 
physiology  is  the  relation  of  compulsory 
or  involuntary  swallowing  to  the  right 
preparation  of  food  for  digestion. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    109 
*  *  # 

Taste  is  evidence  of  nutrition. 

Whatever  does  not  taste,  such  as 
glass  or  stone,  is  not  nutritious.1 

Taste  is  excited  by  the  dissolving  of 
food  in  the  mouth,  and  while  it  lasts  a 
necessary  process  of  preparation  for  di- 
gestion is  going  on. 

The  juices  of  the  mouth  have  the 
power  to  transform  any  food  that  excites 
taste  into  a  substance  suitable  for  the 
body. 

Nothing  that  is  tasteless,  except  water 
and  pure  proteid,  only  by  distinct  invita- 
tion of  appetite,  should  be  taken  into  the 
stomach. 

If  we  swallow  only  the  food  which 
excites  the  appetite  and  is  pleasing  to 
the  sense  of  taste,  and  swallow  it  only 
after  the  taste  has  been  extracted  from 
it,  removing  from  the  mouth  the  taste- 
less residue,  complete  and  easy  diges- 

1  Pure  proteid  or  albumin  is  quite  tasteless  but  is 
always  accompanied  by  tasting  substance,  and  separa- 
tion of  the  proteid  molecule  from  enveloping  material 
is  an  important  function  of  mouth-capacity  in  digestion. 


HO    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

tion  will  be  assured  and  perfect  health 
maintained. 


NATURES    FOOD   FILTER 

Nature  has  provided  an  Automatic 
Food  Filter  which,  if  rightly  used,  will 
prevent  the  introduction  of  any  harmful 

substance  into  the  stomach. 

#  *  # 

At  the  entrance  to  the  throat  there  are 
certain  muscular  folds  or  convolutions, 
including  the  palate,  which,  when  in  re- 
pose, form  an  organ  that  is  nothing  less 
than  a  Perfect  Food  Filter.  This  filter 
has  also  automatic  qualities  which  com- 
pel it  to  empty  itself  by  the  process  we 
call  "  Involuntary  Swallowing." 

Involuntary  swallowing  is  really  com- 
pulsory swallowing;  unless  a  voluntary 
effort  to  restrain  it  is  set  up  against  it. 
The  real  Swallowing  Impulse  is  so 
strong  that  it  is  practically  compelling. 

The  Food  Filter,  when  rightly  per- 
forming its  protective  function,  is  imper- 
vious to  anything  except  pure  water  at 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    1 1 1 

the  right  temperature  for  admission  to 
the  stomach-  and  to  nutriment  which 
has  been  properly  dissolved  and  chemi- 
cally converted  by  salivation  (mixture 
with  saliva)  into  a  substance  suitable  for 
further  digestion. 

IMPORTANCE    OF    MASTICATION 

If  we  masticate  —  submit  to  vigorous 
jaw  action  —  everything  that  we  take 
into  the  mouth,  liquid  as  well  as  solid, 
until  the  nutritive  part  of  it  disappears 
into  the  stomach  through  compulsory 
or  involuntary  swallowing,  and  remove 
from  the  mouth  all  fibrous,  insoluble  and 
tasteless  remainder,  we  will  take  into  the 
body,  thereby,  only  that  which  is  good 

for  the  body. 

#       #        * 

The  first  thought  that  will  arise  in 
the  reader's  mind  on  perusal  of  the 
above  declaration  will  undoubtedly  be, 
"What!  masticate  milk,  soups,  wines, 
spirits,  and  other  liquids ;  nonsense  I 
That  is  impossible !  " 


112    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

It  is  not,  however,  impossible,  and, 
furthermore,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to 
protection  against  abuse  of  the  stomach 
and  possible  disease. 

Liquid  for  adults,  for  anyone  after 
the  eruption  of  teeth,  is  an  artificial 
and  unnatural  sustenance ;  something 
not  taken  into  consideration  when  the 
human  body  was  planned.  Liquid  food 
(drunk  without  mixing  with  saliva)  is 
a  sort  of  nutritive  self-abuse,  and  the 
only  way  to  avoid  the  ill  effect  is  to 
give  it  the  same  chance  to  encounter 
saliva  that  the  constituent  ingredients 
would  have  had  in  a  more  solid  state. 
For  the  importance  of  this  see  Dr.  Camp- 
bell's able  treatise  on  mastication  re- 
printed from  the  London  Lancet  in  the 
"  A.B.-Z.  of  OUR  OWN  NUTRITION." 
*  *  * 

The  only  things  necessary  to  life  that 
we  are  compelled  to  take  into  the  body 
that  do  not  excite  the  sense  of  taste  are 
pure  air  and  pure  water.  These  are 
necessary  to  life,  but  are  not  what  is 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    1 1 3 

called  nutrition.  They  do  not,  alone, 
replace  waste  tissue.  They  do  not  chal- 
lenge the  sentinel,  Taste,  and  hence  do 
not  require  retention  in  the  field  of 
taste. 

If  water  be  pure  and  tasteless  you 
cannot  masticate  it,  as  it  will  not  sub- 
mit to  more  than  one  action  of  the  jaw 
before  causing  involuntary  swallowing. 
If  it  have  taste  it  is  a  sign  that  it  con- 
tains mineral  or  vegetable  substance  that 
needs  treatment  of  some  sort  to  render 
it  suitable  for  the  body,  and  it  will  then 
resist  some  mastication,  some  mouth- 
treatment,  as  in  tasting,  before  com- 
pelling swallowing,  just  as  the  sapid 
liquids  do. 

Anything  that  has  taste,  even  soup, 
wine,  spirits  or  whatsoever  is  tried,  will 
resist  numerous  mastications  before  being 
absorbed  by  the  Food  Filter.  Above 
all  things,  milk,  wines,  etc.,  should  be 
sipped  and  tasted  to  the  limit  of  com- 
pulsory swallowing. 

•       *       * 

8 


114    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

In  considering  the  reasonableness  of 
masticating  everything  that  has  taste 
until  it  is  absorbed  by  Nature's  Food 
Filter,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the 
only  liquid  food  provided  for  man  that 
is  not  artificial  is  milk,  and  the  natural 
means  provided  for  taking  milk  into  the 
stomach  is  by  sucking,  which  is  like 
mastication.1  The  milk  of  fruits,  such 
as  cocoanut  milk,  for  instance,  is  found, 
in  liquid  form,  only  in  the  unripe  fruit, 
and  remains  liquid  only  while  it  is  ripen- 
ing into  pulp. 

*        *        * 

Insalivation  does  not  seem  to  be  com- 
plete without  jaw  action,  although  saliva 
(sometimes  only  mucous)  flows  freely 
into  the  mouth  without  it  under  condi- 
tions which  we  term  "  watering  of  the 
mouth  "  excited  by  keenness  of  appetite. 

1  Before  the  eruption  of  teeth  in  a  child  there  is  no 
secretion  of  saliva,  only  mucous  ;  but  mother's  milk  is 
strongly  alkaline,  and  hence  has  no  need  of  saliva  to 
prepare  it  for  digestion.  All  milk  that  has  "stood" 
or  has  been  mixed  with  water  is  acid,  and  requires 
saliva  to  give  it  the  quality  of  mother's  milk. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    115 

(See  Pawlow's,  Campbell's,  Van  Som- 
eren's,  and  other  evidence  in  "A.B.-Z. 
of  OUR  OWN  NUTRITION.") 

The  normal  perviousness  or  natural 
opening  of  the  Food  Filter  for  swallow- 
ing food  is  directly  assisted  and  affected 
by  movement  of  the  jaws  exercised  in 


vigorous  manner. 


Mastication,  or  mouth -treatment, 
therefore,  even  of  liquids  that  excite 
taste,  seems  to  be  a  necessary  part  of 
thorough  insalivation. 

*        *        * 

Nature  has  a  good  reason  for  every- 
thing she  plans. 

It  is  asserted  by  physiological  chemists 
that  saliva,  taken  from  the  mouth  and 
kept  at  normal  temperature,  will  dissolve 
breads  and  similar  foods  and  convert 
the  starch  in  them  into  maltose,  glucose 
or  sugar.  The  converted  form  is  that 
which  is  suitable  for  further  digestion. 
Saliva  also  converts  some  acids  into 
alkali  and  readily  neutralises  all  acids. 

It  is   also   asserted  that  saliva  does 


Il6    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

not  dissolve  some  things  (proteid  sub- 
stances) nor  chemically  affect  them  as 
visibly  as  it  does  starch  and  acid,  but, 
even  if  this  be  true,  it  is  no  less  essential 
that  the  juices  provided  in  the  mouth 
should  have  an  opportunity,  through 
mastication,  or,  movement  about  in  the 
mouth,  to  do  what  they  are  able  to  do 
in  assisting  digestion. 

Experiment  shows  that  if  all  foods  are 
submitted  to  the  examination  and  action 
of  these  juices  until  involuntary  swallow- 
ing takes  place,  the  results  in  aiding 
subsequent  digestion  are  important  in 
promoting  healthy  nutrition. 

Separation,  neutralisation,  alkalina- 
tion,  saccharidation,  of  the  proteid  and 
carbo-hydrate  elements  of  common 
foods  and  perhaps  a  partial  emulsifica- 
tion  of  fats  are  all  possible  in  the  mouth 
and  are  more  easily  and  quickly  done 
there  than  inside  the  body.  Much  care 
in  Mouth-Treatment  is  an  assurance  of 
economy  and  safety  in  Alimentation. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    117 


OBJECTIONS   CONSIDERED 

One  of  the  objections  usually  pro- 
voked by  the  suggestion  that  all  taste- 
less residue  remaining  in  the  mouth 
after  the  taste  or  nutriment  has  been 
dissolved  out  of  it  should  be  removed  is 
generally  expressed  in  this  wise,  "  How 
is  it  possible  to  remove  refuse  from  the 
mouth  while  eating  without  appearing 
disgusting  to  others  at  table  ?  You  have 
to  swallow  things  to  get  rid  of  them." 

This  is  merely  a  bugbear  prejudice. 
It  has  no  good  reason. 

Do  you  not  remove  cherry  pits,  grape 
skins,  the  shell  of  lobster,  bone,  etc., 
when  you  encounter  them  ?  Then  why 
not  remove  the  fibrous  matter  found  in 
tough  lean  meat,  the  woody  fibre  of  vege- 
tables or  anything  rejected  by  instinct- 
ive desire  to  discard  it  after  taste  has 
been  exhausted,  and  which  is  a  protec- 


1 1 8    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

tion  provided  by  beneficent  Nature? 
In  well  selected  and  well  cooked  food 
there  is  little  found  that  the  juices  of 
the  mouth  in  connection  with  the  teeth 
cannot  take  care  of  and  prepare  so  as  to 
be  acceptable  to  Nature's  Food  Filter. 

If  fibre  is  found  in  the  food  it  can  be 
put  upon  the  fork  in  the  same  manner 
that  a  cherry  pit  is  usually  handled 
and  transferred  to  the  plate  without 
observation. 

Another  fancied  objection  to  thor- 
ough mastication  is  that  it  interferes 
with  the  sociability  of  a  meal. 

This  is  also  a  senseless  bugbear.  It 
is  true  that  one  cannot  converse  freely 
with  large  morsels  of  food  in  the  mouth. 
It  is  also  true  that  it  is  nothing  less  than 
a  gluttonous  custom  to  greedily  take  a 
big  mouthful  of  food,  and,  if  accosted 
with  a  question,  to  bolt  it  in  order  to 
answer. 

It  will  be-  found  easy  to  carry  on  con- 
versation without  disagreeable  interrup- 
tion and  yet  follow  Nature's  demands  in 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    119 

properly  masticating  food  by  taking 
small  morsels  into  the  mouth.  It  will 
be  found  also  to  add  to  the  real  pleasure 
of  eating,  and  eventually  will  become  a 
habit  by  choice. 

Another  objection  raised  by  those 
who  are  afflicted  with  the  habit  of  glut- 
tony is  the  lack  of  time  permitted  by 
their  business  occupation. 

The  time  needed  to  appease  the  nat- 
ural appetite  of  a  hearty  and  active  man, 
to  compensate  for  the  daily  waste  and 
keep  the  weight  at  normal,  is  from  thirty 
to  forty-five  minutes  for  twenty-four 
hours.1  This  requires  attention  and  in- 
dustrious mastication.  Divided  into 
three  meals  it  is  less  than  a  quarter  of 
an  hour  for  each  meal. 

1  The  actual  time  required  by  the  author  during 
the  Yale  tests  to  secure  full  alimentation,  maintain 
weight,  and  fully  appease  a  "  workingman's  appe- 
tite," was  from  twenty-four  to  twenty-six  minutes, 
divided  into  two  meals  for  each  day.  The  common 
habit  is  to  bolt  food  and  waste  time  afterwards  in 
torpid  inactivity,  while  all  the  energy  is  busy  in  the 
stomach  and  intestines  trying  to  get  rid  of  the  great 
excess  loaded  upon  them. 


120    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

Epicurean  habits,  however,  incline 
one  away  from  three  meals  a  day  and 
make  two  meals  sufficient  for  ordinary 
activity. 

One  objector,  on  the  spur  of  momen- 
tary discussion,  claimed  that  in  travelling 
by  railway  the  time  allowed  for  eating 
would  not  permit  Epicurean  methods. 

The  author  arrived  at  Mobile,  Ala., 
recently  with  a  workingman's  appetite 
and  had  only  twenty  minutes  in  which 
to  get  off  the  train,  on  again,  and  satisfy 
the  appetite.  There  is  an  excellent 
lunch  counter  now  at  Mobile,  and  on 
the  counter  there  was  a  tempting  array 
of  things  to  eat  and  drink.  Appetite 
chose  at  once  a  fat,  rich  ham  sandwich,1 
a  glass  of  creamy  milk  and  a  hexagonal 

1  Five  years  of  Epicurean  enjoyment  and  study  of 
the  food  instincts  and  food  economics  have  taught 
the  author  to  like  many  things  better  than  slices  of 
dead  pig  sandwiched  between  slices  of  delicious  bread. 
Vegetarian  extremist  and  faddist  the  author  is  not, 
but  an  attention  to  natural  leadings  inclines  one  away 
from  dead  meat,  which  is  believed  to  induce  much 
uric  acid,  and  in  favour  of  first-hand  food  elements  as 
fresh  from  the  heart  and  the  breast  of  Mother  Nature 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    121 

segment  of  a  mince  pie.  The  twenty 
minutes  was  ample  time  for  disposing  of 
the  sandwich  and  the  milk,  and  mean- 
time the  mince  pie  had  been  wrapped 
in  silk  paper  and  placed  in  a  paper 
bag  to  furnish  Epicurean  enjoyment  for 
twenty  miles  on  the  road,  enhanced  by 
the  beauty  of  a  panoramic  landscape. 

If  I  had  crammed  the  pie  and  the 
sandwich  and  the  milk  into  my  stomach 
in  seven  or  eight  minutes,  which,  by 
actual  observation,  is  the  gluttonous  rate 
of  despatching  a  station  meal,  I  would 
have  lost  two-thirds  of  nutriment,  more 
than  one-half  of  taste  and  would  have 
perhaps  taken  on  twenty-four  hours  of 
discomfort,  possibly  inviting  a  cold.  I 
would  have  created  an  "  open  door  "  for 

as  possible,  leaving  the  second-hand,  once-digested, 
already  decaying,  natural  food  of  the  savage  carni- 
vora  and  the  emergency  food  of  savage  man  for  emer- 
gency occasions  or  a  vegetable  famine.  Much  meat 
excites  lust,  intemperance,  and  savagery  in  man  and 
gives  explosive,  non-enduring  force.  The  question  is, 
do  we  need  such  force  in  the  twentieth  century,  espe- 
cially when  we  know  that  it  tends  to  shorten  life  and 
predispose  to  disease? 


122    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

any  migrating  microbes  that  were  float- 
ing about  in  my  atmosphere  looking  for 
strained  tissue  or  fermenting  food  in 
which  to  build  their  disease  nests. 

Observation  proves  that  you  do  not 
get  much  more  nutriment  out  of  your 
food  than  saliva  prepares  in  some  way 
for  digestion,  gulp  though  you  may,  but 
you  can  take  in  a  load  of  disease  possi- 
bilities in  trying  to  force  the  food  past 
or  otherwise  evade  proper  salivation. 

SPIT  IT  OUT 

Whatever  does  not  insalivate  easily 
is  surely  dangerous. 

There  is  nothing  more  pronounced 
of  expression  by  its  influence  on  inclina- 
tion than  the  impulsive  desire  to  spit 
out  of  the  mouth  anything  that  seems 
unprofitable  to  the  senses. 

INSTINCTIVE    DISCRIMINATION 

Muscles  have  been  provided  for  this 
purpose  (separating,  collecting,  and  spit- 
ting-out anything  which  the  instincts 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    123 

protest  against)  that  are  more  facile 
than  those  of  an  elephant's  proboscis, 
and  these  muscles  move  things  to  and 
fro  in  the  mouth  or  expel  them  if  they 
are  undesirable. 

If  you  acquire  the  habit  of  consulting 
the  Swallowing  Impulse  and  practise 
only  involuntary  swallowingin  eatingyou 
will  find  that  these  muscles  are  very  dis- 
criminating and  will  instinctively  assist 
in  the  rejection  of  unprofitable  matter. 

Their  sense  of  touch  will  soon  dis- 
criminate against  unprofitable  food  even 
when  the  sense  of  taste  is  fooled  by  some 
alluring  sauce  or  condiment. 

Nature  is  truly  a  marvel  of  good 
sense  if  you  give  her  a  chance  to  express 
her  likes  and  dislikes  without  restraint. 

Natural  Appetite  is  the  best  possible 
judge  of  what  the  system  needs,  and  the 
senses  which  Nature's  Food  Chemist 
employs  in  her  work  are  unerring  in 
their  selection  whenever  they  are  per- 
mitted to  act  as  intended  by  Nature. 


124    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 
GIVE    NATURE    A    TRIAL 

Try  Nature's  way  for  a  week  or 
a  month  and  you  will  never  have  a 
desire  to  be  even  mildly  gluttonous 
again. 

One  week  of  faithful  trial  without 
lapses  should  fix  a  habit  of  consulting 
involuntary  swallowing  as  an  automatic 
guide  in  eating  so  that  attention  will 
not  have  to  be  strained  to  heed  it. 

One  week  of  constant  attention  to 
obeying  Nature's  demands  in  eating  will 
so  impress  its  usefulness  on  the  student 
of  Epicureanism  that  an  accidental  act 
of  forced  swallowing  will  be  a  shock  to 
the  sensibility. 

One  week  of  obedience  of  Nature's 
simple  requirements  will  demonstrate 
that  she  imposes  no  penalties  for  follow- 
ing her  natural  requirements,  but  only 
for  disobedience  of  her  protective  laws. 

One  week  of  earnest,  open-minded 
study  of  Nature's  first  principle  of  life 
—  nutrition  —  will  convert  a  pitiable 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    125 

glutton  into  an  intelligent  and    ardent 
Epicurean. 

DIFFERENCES 

Individuals  differ  greatly  in  the  quan- 
tity of  the  supply  of  the  juices  of  the 
mouth  which  are  active  in  salivation. 
They  differ  so  much  that  it  is  safe  to 
say  that  no  two  have  equal  provision. 

One  person  may  dispose  of  a  morsel 
of  bread  in  thirty  mastications  so  that 
the  last  vestige  of  it  has  disappeared  by 
involuntary  process  into  the  stomach. 
Another  person,  of  similar  general  health 
appearance,  selecting  as  nearly  as  possi- 
ble an  equal  morsel  of  bread,  may  require 
fifty  acts  of  mastication  before  the  mor- 
sel has  disappeared.  The  next  week, 
by  some  change  of  conditions  this  order 
may  be  reversed.  While  there  may  be 
some  structural  or  chemical  difference 
in  the  two  morsels  of  bread,  this  is  not 
sufficient  to  account  for  the  different 
mastications  required.  The  dissimilar- 
ity lies  in  the  difference  of  the  copious- 


126    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

ness  and  strength  of   the  secretions  at 
the  time  of  trial. 

This  liability  to  changed  conditions 
would  constitute  a  serious  danger  if  it 
were  not  for  the  protective  Food  Filter, 
or,  Reflex  of  Deglutition,  which  Van 
Someren  has  so  well  described  in  the 
"  A.B.-Z  ;  "  and  whenever  mouth-treat- 
ment of  anything  to  be  ingested  is  neg- 
lected, and  forced  swallowing  —  hasty 
bolting  of  food  or  gulping  of  liquid 
food  —  is  indulged  in,  this  protection 
is  eluded  and  the  danger  is  converted 
into  actual  internal  self-abuse. 

WARNING 

Above  all  things  don't  strain  to  be 
careful.  Strain  inhibits  —  paralyses  — 
all  of  the  glandular  functions  and  de- 
ranges the  nervous  nicety  of  adjustment. 
Just  eat  slowly,  deliberately,  small  mor- 
sels, and  sip  and  taste  small  quantities 
of  liquids  and  observe  what  happens. 
You  will  soon  learn  to  Know  yourself 
and  "  Know  Thyself "  has  been  the 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    127 
advice  of  all  the  sages  from  the  begin- 


ning of  time. 


GLADSTONES    RULE 

Numbers  of  mastications  as  related 
to  given  quantities  and  kinds  of  foods 
are  no  guide  to  be  relied  upon. 

Gladstone's  dictum,  "Chew  each  mor- 
sel of  food  at  least  thirty-two  times,"  was 
of  little  value  except  as  a  general  sug- 
gestion. Some  morsels  of  food  will  not 
resist  thirty-two  mastications,  while  oth- 
ers will  defy  seven  hundred. 

The  author  has  found  that  one-fifth 
of  an  ounce  of  the  midway  section  of  the 
garden  young  onion,  sometimes  called 
"challot,"  has  required  seven  hundred 
and  twenty-two  mastications  before  dis- 
appearing through  involuntary  swallow- 
ing. After  the  tussle,  however,  the 
young  onion  left  no  odour  upon  the 
breath  and  joined  the  happy  family  in 
the  stomach  as  if  it  had  been  of  corn- 
starch  softness  and  consistency. 


128   THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

It  will  be  difficult,  without  actual  dem- 
onstration, to  convince  the  advocates  of 
"  Total  Abstinence "  that  any  whisky 
can  be  taken  in  a  seemingly  harmless 
form,  but  it  is  true  that  thorough  in- 
salivation  of  beer,  wine  or  spirits,  until 
disappearance  by  involuntary  swallow- 
ing, robs  them  of  their  power  to  in- 
toxicate, partly  because  appetite  will 
tolerate  but  little. 

TEMPERANCE    PROMOTED 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  whisky  taken  in 
this  analytical  way  is  a  sure  means  of 
breaking  up  desire  for  it,  and  it  is  an  ex- 
cellent protection  in  drinking  as  well  as 
eating.  Many  of  our  test-subjects  have 
been  steady  and  some  have  been  heavy 
drinkers  but  persistent  attention  to 
Buccal-Thoroughness  has  cured  all  of 
them  of  any  desire  for  alcohol  and  in 
time  it  surely  leads  to  complete  intoler- 
ance of  it. 

It  is  also  true  that,  taken  in  the  way 
suggested,  the  body  refuses  to  tolerate 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    129 

more  than  sips  and  thimblefuls  of  these 
liquids  and  then  only  on  rare  occasions, 
so  that  the  Epicurean  habit  is  the  best 
possible  insurance  of  temperance. 


NORMAL   CONDITIONS    RESTORED 

While  the  difference  in  the  supply  of 
the  juices  of  the  mouth  is  an  important 
factor  in  digestion,  insufficiency  need 
not  cause  alarm.  Nature  is  so  gladly 
and  quickly  recuperative  that  the  mo- 
ment abuses  of  her  functions  are  stopped 
she  begins  to  repair  damages  and  re- 
establish normal  conditions. 

One  of  the  subjects  who  submitted 
himself  to  experiment  was  found  to  be 
woefully  deficient  in  saliva  and,  was  a 
pitiable  dyspeptic,  but,  as  the  result  of 
patient  mastication,  the  secretions  grad- 
ually increased  until  they  were  ample, 
and  dyspeptic  symptoms  disappeared 
even  long  before  the  secretions  became 
normal.  The  strain  of  excessive  and 
(acid)  fermenting  food  being  removed, 


130    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

the  acute  discomfort  was  at  once  allayed 
even  before  the  repair  was  complete. 


"  KNOW    THYSELF 

"  Know  Thyself "  has  been  the  ad- 
monition of  sages  from  earliest  times. 
"  Become  acquainted  with  your  Normal 
Instincts,  with  Appetite  and  with  your 
food  chemist,  Taste,  and  follow  their  di- 
rections with  implicit  confidence,"  is  the 
admonition  taught  by  our  experiments, 
for  they  can  lead  you  to  robust  health 
and  greatly  increased  vigour  of  body  and 
mind.  Study  and  heed  them  patiently 
for  a  week  and  you  will  follow  their  in- 
vitations and  warnings  through  life. 

Thorough  repair  of  an  impaired  body 
may  not  be  effected  immediately,  al- 
though wonderful  results  —  almost  mi- 
raculous—  have  been  attained  in  three 
months ;  but  a  week's  faithful  and  atten- 
tive study  of  the  possibilities  of  Epicu- 
reanism, with  right  alimentation  as  its 
basic  requirement,  in  adding  to  the 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    131 

comfort  and  enjoyment  of  life  will  re- 
sult in  right  eating  being  made  philo- 
sophically and  religiously  habitual,  and 
will  give  a  backbone  of  Epicurean  char- 
acter that  will  not  easily  succumb  to 
gluttonous  impetuosity. 


132    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 


THE   MIND    POWER-PLANT 

A    USEFUL    ANALOGY 

All  of  the  functions  of  the  body  are 
operated  by  something  very  much  akin 
to  electricity  —  mental  energy  —  so  that 
aside  from  the  fermentation  which  glut- 
tony makes  possible,  the  mere  drag  of 
handling  of  dead  material  in  the  body, 
that  the  body  cannot  use,  for  two  or 
three  days,  is  a  wasteful  draught  on 
the  available  mental  capacity. 

Using  an  electric  power-plant  as  an- 
alogous to  the  Mind  Power- Plant  of  the 
brain,  and  a  trolley  railroad  as  analogous 
to  the  machinery  of  the  body  —  analo- 
gies which  are  very  close  by  consistent 
similarity  —  the  loading  of  the  stomach 
with  unprepared  food,  as  in  gluttony,  is 
like  loading  flat  cars  with  pig  iron  and 
running  them  around  the  line  of  the 
road  in  place  of  passenger  cars,  thereby 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    133 

using  up  valuable  energy  and  wearing 
out  the  equipment  without  any  profit 
resulting  from  the  expenditure. 

To  those  who  are  familiar  with  the 
modern  electric  power-plant  the  analogy 
between  it  and  the  human  individual 
equipment,  or  Mind  Power-Plant,  seems 
very  remarkable. 

To  those,  however,  who  have  not  vis- 
ited an  electric  power-plant  a  description 
is  necessary. 


DESCRIPTION    OF    A    MODERN 
ELECTRIC    POWER-PLANT 

Fuel,  of  course,  is  the  source  of  the 
power.  Furnaces  which  are  capable  of 
producing  heat  with  the  least  consump- 
tion of  fuel,  tubes  within  the  boilers  that 
permit  the  freest  possible  contact  of  the 
heat  produced  and  the  water  to  be  turned 
into  steam,  steam  pipes  that  are  flexible 
and  yet  strong,  machinery  that  moves 
with  the  least  friction  in  order  to  con- 
centrate and  utilise  the  power  of  the 


134    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

steam,  and  dynamos  out  of  which  elec- 
tricity is  evolved,  together  with  auxiliary 
pumps  and  hoists  and  blowers  and  what- 
not other  devices  to  help  create,  control 
and  economise  the  energy,  are  the  essen- 
tial parts  of  an  electric  power-plant.  To 
insure  economy  and  accuracy  these  are 
made  as  nearly  automatic  as  possible. 

At  one  end  of  the  furnace  house  there 
is  sunk  in  the  cement  floor  a  large  iron 
scoop  or  tray  into  which  cartloads  of 
lump  coal  are  dumped.  This  scoop- 
shaped  receptacle  is  also  the  platform 
of  a  weighing  machine  so  that  each 
load  is  weighed.  In  the  bottom  of  the 
scoop  there  is  a  trap-door,  which,  being 
opened,  permits  the  coal  to  drop  through 
between  the  teeth  of  a  crusher  where 
the  large  lumps  are  reduced,  usually  to 
the  size  of  a  small  nut. 

From  the  crusher  the  coal  falls  into 
the  buckets  of  an  endless  chain-hoist 
and  is  conveyed  aloft  to  great  hopper- 
shaped  bins  which  occupy  the  entire 
space  under  the  roof  over  the  furnaces. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    135 

Leading  back  from  each  bin  to  the  con- 
stantly moving  grate  bars  of  the  furnace 
underneath  is  a  pipe  which  delivers  the 
crushed  coal  to  the  grate  bars  and  dis- 
tributes it  evenly  over  their  surface  as 
fast  as  it  can  be  received  into  the  furnace, 
regulated,  of  course,  by  the  consumption 
that  is  going  on  inside  the  furnace. 

To  accomplish  this  automatic  feeding 
each  set  of  grate  bars  is  constructed  in 
hinged  sections,  and  forms  a  wide  end- 
less iron  belt  which  revolves  and  carries 
the  coal  within  the  cavity  of  the  furnace. 

The  coal  crusher,  bucket  hoist,  mov- 
able grate  bars,  ash  collectors  and  sifters, 
pumps,  blowers,  lights  and  all  other  utili- 
ties of  the  plant,  as  well  as  the  great 
travelling  crane  which  can  hoist  and 
carry  many  tons'  weight  —  any  part  of 
the  enormous  dynamos  —  from  place  to 
place,  are  operated  by  electricity  which 
is  generated  in  the  dynamos. 

Automatic  gauges  that  measure  and 
indicate,  and  switch-boards  that  regulate 
the  energy  created  and  stored  in  the 


136    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

dynamos  play  important  parts  in  the 
economy  and  working  of  the  plant  and 
are  analogous  to  appetite  and  taste  in 
man. 

ANALOGY    ILLUSTRATED 

The  full  analogy  may  be  best  illus- 
trated by  arranging  the  similar  functions 
of  the  two  energy-creating  machines 
opposite  each  other  in  parallel  columns. 

ELECTRIC    AND    MIND    POWER-PLANTS 
COMPARED 

ELECTRIC    POWER-PLANT  MIND    POWER-PLANT 

Fuel.  Food. 

*  *        * 

Selection  of  fuel  as  to  Selection  of  food  for 
steam-making  and  eco-  nutritive  value;  normal 
nomic  qualities.  appetite  serving  as  an 

exact  guide  and  gauge. 

*  *        * 

Crushing  coal  so  as  to  Masticating  food  so 
render  combustion  as  that  the  juices  of  the 
easy  and  complete  as  mouth  can  act  on  the 
possible.  substance  with  greatest 

freedom ;  taste  being  evi- 
dence of  the  working  of 
the  process. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    137 


Automatic  conveyal  of  Automatic  reception  of 
the  prepared  fuel,  first  to  properly  masticated  and 
the  bins  and  then  on  to  thoroughly  insalivated 
the  furnace  as  required.  food  into  Nature's  Food 

Filter  and  emptying  into 
the  furnace  of  the  stomach 
by  Involuntary,  or  Com- 
pulsory Swallowing. 
»        *        » 

Combustion  in  the  fur-  Digestion  in  the  stom- 
nace.  ach  and  intestines. 

*  *        » 

Generation  of  steam  in  Generation  of  material 
the  boiler  tubes  and  stor-  for  vital  energy  and  stor- 
age in  the  boilers.  age  in  the  body. 

*  *        * 

Steam.  Blood  in  circulation. 

*  *        * 
Steam  Gauge.  Pulse. 

*  *        * 
Engine.  Heart. 

*  *        * 

Dynamo,   with  its  nu-  Brain,  with  its  complex 

merous    coils   and  exten-  convolutions   in   constant 

sive  friction  surfaces.  frictional  activity. 

*  *        * 

Volt  Gauge,  indicating  Strength,  indicating  the 

the  power  available.  available  energy. 

*  *        * 

Electricity.  Mind.     Energy.     Ner- 

vous Force. 


138    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 


AUXILIARY   OPERATING   MOTORS 


Electric  motors  at- 
tached to  the  separate 
parts  or  machines  of  the 
plant,  connected  by  wires 
and  drawing  power  from 
the  dynamos. 


Automatic  switches 
regulating  the  transmis- 
sion of  power  to  the  mo- 
tors in  response  to  their 
fluctuating  requirements. 


Nerve-cell  motors  at- 
tached to  glands  and 
muscles,  connected  with 
the  brain  by  nerve-fibres 
and  drawing  on  the  men- 
tal or  nervous  energy  for 
power. 
*  » 

Sensitive  nerve  ends 
terminating  in  each  cell  of 
the  body  and  penetrating 
each  gland,  signalling,  on 
being  touched,  for  power 
to  eject  digestive  secre- 
tions or  oily  mucus  as  de- 
manded by  the  needs  of 
digestion,  also,  supplying 
automatic  power  to  mus- 
cles employed  in  exterior 
work  or  in  moving  the 
food  substance  on  through 
the  process  of  digestion 
and  afterward  disposing 
of  the  excreta  —  ashes  and 
clinkers,  as  it  were.  The 
ganglions  are  the  switch 
boards  of  the  body. 


Automatic  demand  for 
fuel  as  required  in  the 
progress  of  combustion 
to  supply  the  waste  or 


Appetite,  indicating  re- 
quirements of  the  Mind 
Power-Plant  for  replace- 
ing  the  constant  waste  of 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    139 

useful  consumption  of  the      tissue  consumed  in  run- 
electricity,  ning  the  machine. 


Good  Draught,  forced          Optimistic  Thinking, 
if  necessary.  forced  if  necessary,  for  /'/ 

is  necessary  to  health. 


PROFITABLE   MANAGEMENT 

Intelligent  Engineer-  Intelligent  Self-Knowl- 
ing.  edge  and  Self- Care,  as- 

sisting Nature  in  her 
good  intentions. 

*  »        * 

Economic  stoking.  Feeding  only  what  is 

actually  required  for  sus- 
tenance. 

UNPROFITABLE   MANAGEMENT 

Overloading  and  chok-  Overloading  and  chok- 
ing the  furnace  with  ir-  ing  the  stomach  with 
regular  and  dirty  coal.  unmasticated,  unsolved, 

unconverted,  and,  there- 
fore indigestible  food. 

*  «        * 

Neglect  of  cleaning,  Nature  is  not  neglect- 
oiling  and  repairs.  ful;  she  does  well  and 

quickly  all  the  lubricating 
and  repairing  of  the 
Mind  Power-Plant  when- 
ever strain  is  removed 
and  she  is  given  the  re- 
quired rest,  or  time  to 


140    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

accomplish  the  work  be- 
tween meals. 


Unnecessary  ashes  and  Unnecessary  ferment- 
clinkers,  encumbering  the  ing  excreta,  resulting  from 
plant,  depositing  dust  in  unfiltered  and  unpre- 
the  journals  of  the  ma-  pared  food,  depositing 
chines  and  requiring  poisonous  sediment  in  the 
much  power  to  handle  blood  channels,  straining 
and  remove.  the  intestines,  ossifying 

the  cartilages,  crystallis- 
ing in  the  kidneys  and 
bladder  and  drawing  ex- 
cessively upon  the  avail- 
able energy  of  the  nervous 
centres  and  the  available 
brain  energy  for  power  to 
handle  and  discharge. 


PROFITABLE   DIRECTION    AND   USE   OF   ENERGY 

Good  wires  leading    to          Creditable  aims  in  life, 
profitable  uses. 

*  *        » 

Good  insulation  or  iso-          Concentration  of    pur- 
lation  of  circuit  wires.  pose. 

*  *         * 

Resistance  Coils.  Self-Control.      Reserve 

force. 

*  *        * 

Success,   evidenced  by          Success,   evidenced  by 
profit.  energy  conserved  and  hap- 

piness secured. 


THE  NEW  GLUITON  OR  EPICURE    141 


UNPROFITABLE   DIRECTION   AND   USE   OF   ENERGY 

Small     wires     leading          Aimlessness  of  purpose 
anywhere  or  nowhere.  and  timid,  lazy  or  selfish 

isolation  from  sympa- 
thetic currents  and  con- 
structive occupation. 

*  *        * 

Current       carelessly          Energy  wasted  in  idle- 
grounded   and  electricity       ness  or  worry, 
wasted. 

*  *        * 

Crossing  of   wires   re-          Crossed  temper  —  An- 
sulting  in  waste  of  power      ger  —  wasting      valuable 
and  possibly  causing  fire.       energy  and  possibly  lead- 
ing to  rash  acts  causing 
life-long  regrettable  fool- 
ishness. 


Placing    flat    cars    on  Importing  worry 

an   electric    trolley   line,  through    anticipated   evil 

for  instance,  loading  them  on      an     hundred-to-one 

with   pig    iron   and   pur-  chance  of  its  being  real- 

poselessly   running  them  ised,      thereby      wasting 

aimlessly  around  the  cir-  energy  and  paralysing  the 

cuit,  thereby  wasting  the  digestive      and       repair 

electricity  and  wearing  out  functions   of    the    body; 

the  cars  and  the  line.  painfully  wearing  out  the 

body  itself. 
*        *        * 

Allowing  cars    to  run  Permitting    Anger    to 

wild    instead  of  keeping  run  away  with   cool  dis- 

them  under  control.  cretion. 


142    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 


TELL-TALE   EXCRETA 

It  is  unfortunate  that  the  perpetua- 
tion of  early  ignorant  abuses  of  Nature's 
pure  intentions  has  led  to  a  too  prudish 
attitude  toward  the  one  infallible  evi- 
dence of  health  conditions  as  shown  by 
the  refuse  of  repair  and  digestion,  as 
it  is  only  by  the  excreta  that  ultimate 
indication  of  the  results  of  nutrition  are 
observable.  They  are  the  reliable  re- 
port relative  to  the  most  important 
thing  in  health  —  digestion  —  and  they 
must  be  understood  in  order  to  be  read. 

There  is  no  knowledge  so  valuable 
in  its  relation  to  health  as  that  which 
enables  one  to  read  health  bulletins  by 
means  of  the  excreta. 

Different  foods  contain  different  ele- 
ments of  waste  material  and  to  be  able 
to  identify  or  judge  the  economic  value 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    143 

of  food  previously  consumed  a  knowl- 
edge of  its  digestion-ash  is  essential. 

A  child  should  be  taught  the  differ- 
ence between  healthy  and  unhealthy 
excreta  in  order  to  be  on  guard  at  the 
first  warning  of  disorder,  rather  than  be 
allowed  to  remain  ignorant  until  disease 
has  taken  firm  hold  of  the  system.  The 
knowledge  is  not  complicated  and  can 
be  easily  acquired  by  even  young 
children. 

When  the  possibility  of  perfect  pro- 
tection in  the  matter  of  nutrition  is 
generally  known,  one  mission  of  the 
physician  will  be  to  teach  prevention 
of  abuses  of  feeding  by  evidence  of 
the  excreta. 

The  healthy  faeces  of  many  wild  ani- 
mals is  comparatively  dry,  odourless 
and  cleanly ;  and  a  farm  barn  yard  or 
a  decently  kept  city  stable  is  not  an 
offence  to  even  prudish  prejudice. 

Not  so  the  vicinage  of  an  open  re- 
ceptacle for  the  waste  of  human  in- 
digestion. 


144    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

In  animals,  offensive  egesta  are  evi- 
dence of  digestive  disturbance  owing 
to  some  unintelligent  feeding  on  the 
part  of  attendants ;  in  humans  the  cause 
and  effect  of  offensive  excreta  are  the 
same. 

When  a  race-  or  work-animal  shows 
digestive  disturbance  the  least  intelli- 
gent owner  or  keeper  knows  that  it  is 
not  fit  for  work  or  racing,  and  yet  this 
symbol  of  unfitness  is  common  to  the 
human  race. 

One  of  the  most  noticeable  and  sig- 
nificant results  of  economic  nutrition 
gained  through  careful  attention  to  the 
mouth-treatment  of  food,  or  buccal-di- 
gestion,  is,  not  only  the  small  quantity  of 
waste  obtained  but  its  inoffensiveness. 
Under  best  test-conditions  the  ashes 
of  economic  digestion  have  been  re- 
duced to  one-tenth  of  the  average  given 
as  normal  in  the  latest  text-books  on 
Physiology.  The  economic  digestion- 
ash  forms  in  pillular  shape  and  when 
released  these  are  massed  together,  hav- 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    145 

ing  become  so  bunched  by  considerable 
retention  in  the  rectum.  There  is  no 
stench,  no  evidence  of  putrid  bacterial  de- 
composition, only  the  odour  of  warmth, 
like  warm  earth  or  "  hot  biscuit."  Test 
samples  of  excreta,  kept  for  more  than 
five  years,  remain  inoffensive,  dry  up, 
gradually  disintegrate  and  are  lost.  The 
following  observation  by  an  eminent  eye 
specialist  and  litterateur  illustrates  the 
opening  paragraph  of  this  chapter. 

PERIODICITY 

The  question  of  "  when "  or  "  how 
often "  the  solid  excreta  should  be 
voided  or  released  is  one  that  imme- 
diately presents  itself  when  the  subject 
is  under  discussion.  The  common  opin- 
ion is  that  "  once-a-day  "  periodicity  is 
the  proper  and  only  healthy  thing,  and 
should  a  day  pass  there  would  be  imme- 
diate fear  of  "  constipation." 

Under  the  best  test  conditions,  before 
referred  to,  the  ash  accumulated  in  suffi- 
cient quantity  to  demand  release  only  at 


10 


146    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

the  end  of  six,  eight,  or  ten  days,  the 
longer  periods  of  rest  being  the  evidence 
of  the  best  economic  and  health  results. 

Under  ordinary  conditions  of  careless- 
ness and  strenuous  environment,  say  an 
exciting  and  exacting  city  occupation, 
twice  a  week  is  as  often  as  one  should 
accumulate  a  deposit  of  digestion-ash 
and  feel  sure  that  the  strain  on  the 
system  is  not  excessive  and  dangerous. 
Young  people  seem  to  thrive  even  when 
delivering  daily  a  large  quantity  of 
smelly  excreta ;  but  it  is  an  abuse  of 
the  "  ten-horse  reserve  "  *  with  which  the 
human  engine  is  supplied ;  and  along 
in  the  "  forties  "  or  the  "  fifties  "  or  the 
"  sixties "  the  body  shows  signs  of  pre- 
mature wear  when  it  should  be  but  in 
its  prime. 

Another  important  matter  should  be 
mentioned  in  this  exchange  of  sanitary 
confidences.  When  the  ashes  of  diges- 

1  Dr.  Meltzer's  estimate  of  human  reserve  strength 
and  resistance  which  must  be  out-worn  or  over- 
strained before  death  calls  a  settlement. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    147 

tion  are  dumped  the  body  should  assume 
the  shape  of  the  letter  Z.  It  is  the 
natural  position  of  primitive  man  (squat- 
ting on  his  heels),  and  the  body  was 
originally  constructed  on  that  plan.  If 
otherwise  poised  (sitting  erect)  the  deliv- 
ery of  digestion-ash  is  performed  with 
the  same  difficulty  as  would  be  experi- 
enced when  trying  to  force  a  semi-solid 
through  a  bent  or  a  kinked  hose. 

The  publication  of  the  observation 
of  Dr. ,  here  following,  is  a  break- 
away from  the  prudery  of  a  diseased  and 
disgusting  age, —  a  protest  jointly  shared 
by  the  scientific  observer  and  the  volun- 
tary test-subject,  whose  only  aim  in  the 
pursuit  of  the  study  to  "a  finish"  is  the 
ultimate  benefit  of  the  human  race. 

SCIENTIFIC    OBSERVATION   OF  A 
LITERARY  TEST-SUBJECT 

"  During  his  sojourn  in  Washington 

in  July,  1903,  I  saw  much  of  Mr. , 

and  in  a  very  intimate  way.   The  weather 


148    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

at  that  period  was  very  hot,  sometimes 
near  100°,  and  very  sultry.  For  ten 
days  or  two  weeks  in  the  midst  of  this 
season  he  was  busily  engaged  in  con- 
structive writing,  turning  out  on  an 
average  some  eight  thousand  words  on 
his  typewriter  daily,  which  meant  a  close 
application  for  ten  or  fourteen  hours 
each  day.  He  usually  began  his  work 
at  from  two  to  five  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing, continuing  often  until  three  or  four 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  we  would 
commonly  go  together  to  a  ball  game, 
which  he  enjoyed  with  the  enthusiasm 
of  a  boy  of  twelve.  Later  in  the  evening 
he  would  resume  his  work  for  from  one 
to  three  hours,  retiring  at  from  ten  to 
about  midnight.  His  food  consisted  of 
a  glass  of  milk  with  a  trace  of  coffee, 
and  corn  'gems,'  four  of  which  he  con- 
sumed in  the  twenty-four  hours.  Occa- 
sionally he  would  add  in  very  hot 
weather  a  glass  of  lemonade.  There 
was  at  no  time  any  evidence  of  mental 
or  physical  fatigue.  That  such  an 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    149 

amount  of  work,  with  the  maintenance 
of  perfect  health,  could  be  accomplished 
on  such  a  small  quantity  of  food  can  be 
accounted  for  only  on  the  assumption 
of  a  complete  assimilation  of  the  in- 
gested material.  As  the  degree  of  com- 
bustion is  indicated  by  the  ashes  left,  so 
the  completeness  of  digestion  is  to  be 
measured  by  the  amount  and  character 
of  the  intestinal  excreta.  A  conclusive 
demonstration  of  thorough  digestion 

in    Mr. 's   case    was    afforded    me. 

There  had,  under  the  regime  above 
mentioned,  been  no  evacuation  of  the 
bowels  for  eight  days.  At  the  end  of 
this  period  he  informed  me  that  there 
were  indications  that  the  rectum  was 
about  to  evacuate,  though  the  material 
he  was  sure  could  not  be  of  a  large 
amount.  Squatting  upon  the  floor  of 
the  room,  without  any  perceptible  effort 
he  passed  into  the  hollow  of  his  hand 
the  contents  of  the  rectum.  This  was 
done  to  demonstrate  human  normal 
cleanliness  and  inoffensiveness ;  neither 


150    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

stain  nor  odour  remaining,  either  in  the 
rectum  or  upon  the  hand.1  The  ex- 
creta were  in  the  form  of  nearly  round 
balls,  varying  in  size  from  a  small  marble 
to  a  plum.  These  were  greenish-brown 
in  colour,  of  firm  consistence,  and  cov- 
ered over  with  a  thin  layer  of  mucus; 
but  there  was  no  more  odour  to  it  than 
there  is  to  a  hot  biscuit. 

"  The  whole  mass  weighed  56  grams. 
The  next  day  there  was  a  further  deposit 
of  the  same  kind  of  dry-waste,  making 
135  grams  (about  4|  ounces)  for  the  nine 
days.  It  seems  to  me  there  could  be  no 
more  conclusive  evidence  of  complete 
digestion  and  assimilation  than  this. 
The  existence  of  perfect  nutrition  is 
indicated  by  his  ability  to  continue,  with- 
out fatigue  and  under  trying  conditions, 
work  which  could  only  be  accomplished 
in  an  ideal  condition  of  health. 

"WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  July  31,  1903." 

1  Similar  specimens  of  digestion-ash  have  been 
kept  for  five  years  without  change  other  than  drying 
to  dust. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    151 


WHAT   SENSE? 
TASTE 1 

The  Sense  of  Taste  has  a  value  in 
relation  to  nutrition  that  has  not  fully 
been  appreciated. 

Taste  has  been  considered  the  low- 
est, in  usefulness,  of  all  the  senses. 

On  the  contrary,  if  properly  under- 
stood, taste  is  one  of  the  most  important 
of  all  the  faculties  man  possesses. 

Taste  has  lacked  appreciation,  for 
the  reason  that  it  has  been  supposed 
that  it  catered  to  sensuality,  in  the  vul- 
gar sense,  and  performed  the  function  of 
devilish  temptation  rather  than  that  of 
natural  invitation  and  protection. 

1  "  Glutton  or  Epicure "  was  originally  composed 
of  two  smaller  booklets  entitled  "  Nature's  Food 
Filter;  or,  What  and  When  to  Swallow  "  and  "What 
Sense?  or,  Economic  Nutrition;"  bound  together. 
In  this  revision  the  order  has  been  retained  with  some 
repetitions,  but  with  different  applications. 


152    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

Upon  an  examination,  that  any  one 
can  make  for  himself,  however,  it  is 
revealed  that  taste  is  the  faithful  ser- 
vant of  appetite;  the  sentinel  of  the 
stomach,  of  the  intestines,  of  the  tissues 
and  of  the  brain,  whose  guidance  and 
warning,  if  heeded,  will  give  heretofore 
unknown  enjoyment  of  eating,  and  at 
the  same  time  insure  perfect  health 
and  the  maximum  of  strength. 


TASTE    IS    THE    GUIDE    AND    GUARD    OF 
NUTRITION 

The  more  we  learn,  the  more  evident 
it  is  that  there  is  a  Perfect  Way  locked, 
or,  rather,  enfolded,  in  all  of  Nature's 
secrets,  and  that  it  is  intended  that  man 
shall  sometime  discover  them. 

Taste,  in  its  normal  condition,  when 
allowed  to  direct  or  advise,  serves  several 
important  functions,  not  the  least  of 
which  is  as  first-assistant  to  Appetite. 
Appetite  craves  the  kind  of  nourishment 
the  body  needs,  invites  to  eating,  pi^es 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    153 

enjoyment  during  the  whole  time  needed 
for  the  fluids  of  the  mouth  and  the 
stomach  to  do  their  part  of  the  digestive 
process.  Taste  ceases  when  the  food  is 
ready  for  the  stomach  and  thereafter 
fails  to  recognise  the  indigestible  sedi- 
ment which  remains  in  the  mouth  after 
nutriment  has  been  extracted ;  and,  in 
these  discriminations,  if  consulted  and 
obeyed,  Taste  and  Appetite  prevent 
indigestible  matter  from  entering  the 
system  to  burden  and  clog  the  lower  in- 
testines, form  deposits  in  bone,  cartilage 
and  kidneys,  inflame  the  tissues,  and 
otherwise  create  conditions  favourable 
to  the  propagation  of  the  microbes  of 
disease. 

The  normal  sensitiveness  of  taste  can 
be  recovered,  if  already  lost,  in  the  course 
of  a  week,  or  two  weeks  at  most,  by 
means  of  the  stimulating  and  regenera- 
ting influence  of  natural  body-repair, 
if  the  method  of  taste  and  appetite  cul- 
tivation recommended  in  this  book  is 
followed. 


154    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

Those  who  now  enjoy  good  health 
will  find  a  new  joy  in  living  when  they 
have  discovered  the  intelligent  use  of 
taste  and  submit  the  fuel  of  their  Mind 
Power-Plant  and  strength  to  the  analysis 
and  selection  of  Nature's  instinctive 
agents. 

LATEST    DEFINITION 

••, 

Dr.  William  T.  Harris,  in  his  latest 
contribution  to  the  "  International  Edu- 
cation Series,"  Psychologic  Foundations 
of  Education,  defines  the  presently  ap- 
preciated value  of  the  sense  of  taste,  as 
follows :  "  The  lowest  form  of  special 
sense  is  taste,  which  is  closely  allied  to 
nutrition.  Taste  perceives  the  phase  of 
assimilation  of  the  object,  which  is  com- 
mencing with  the  mouth.  The  individ- 
uality of  the  object  is  attacked  and  it 
gives  way,  its  organic  product  or  inor- 
ganic aggregate  suffering  dissolution  — 
taste  perceives  the  dissolution.  Sub- 
stances that  do  not  yield  to  the  attack 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    155 

of  the  juices  of  the  mouth  have  no  taste. 
Glass  and  gold  have  little  taste  as  com- 
pared with  salt  or  sugar.  The  sense  of 
taste  differs  from  the  process  of  nutrition 
in  the  fact  that  it  does  not  assimilate  the 
body  tasted,  but  reproduces  ideally  the 
energy  that  makes  the  impression  on 
the  sense  organ  of  taste.  Even  taste, 
therefore,  is  an  ideal  activity,  although 
it  is  present  only  when  the  nutritive 
energy  is  assimilating  —  it  perceives 
the  object  in  a  process  of  dissolution. 

"  Smell  is  another  specialisation  which 
perceives  dissolution  of  objects  in  a  more 
general  form  than  taste.  Both  smell  and 
taste  perceive  chemical  changes  that  in- 
volve dissolution  of  the  object." 

If  this  is  the  recognised  estimate 
of  taste,  which  is  true  as  widely  as  I 
have  been  able  to  inquire,  both  among 
physicians  and  among  the  latest  books 
on  health,  it  is  certainly  a  case  of  neg- 
lected appreciation  such  as  the  world  has 
not  witnessed  up  to  the  present  time. 


156    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 


PRESUMED   CAUSES   OF  DISEASES 

On  the  undisputed  authority  of  phys- 
iologists it  is  known  that  all  diseases 
are  made  possible  by  derangement  which 
is  favourable  to  the  propagation  of  the 
microbes  of  disease,  or  by  deposits  of 
inharmonious  matter  which  are  not 
thrown  off. 

Derangement  of  all  the  substance  of 
the  internal  body  is  effected  mainly,  and 
probably  entirely,  by  deposit  of  indigest- 
ible food  or  of  tissue  which  is  broken 
down  and  is  not  thereafter  expelled 
from  the  system  by  the  ordinary  means 
provided  for  the  discharge  of  waste. 

These  inharmonious  deposits  which 
cause  so  much  direct  and  indirect  trouble 
are  mainly,  and  probably  entirely,  the  re- 
sult of  excess  of  eating,  or  of  wrong  eat- 
ing, so  that  the  digestive  organs  of  the 
body  cannot  take  care  of  what  is  forced 
on  them;  or,  of  admitting  substances 
which  they  are  powerless  to  make  into 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    157 

good  blood  or  discharge  by  the  regular 
means  provided  by  nature. 

Right  eating  and  right  food  are,  then, 
the  all-important  considerations  of  health, 
as  far  as  the  tissues  are  concerned ;  and, 
as  the  tissues  are  themselves  the  stored 
food  or  fuel  of  the  brain  and  the  nerve 
centres,  the  importance  of  perfect  nutri- 
tion extends  to  the  most  vital  functions 
and  interests  of  life. 

TARDY    APPRECIATION 

All  experience  warns  against  over- 
eating and  improper  eating  as  the  most 
common  causes  of  disease ;  and  troubles 
of  the  stomach  and  intestines  are  known 
to  be  the  parents  of  all  other  bodily  ills ; 
yet  no  fixed  guide  has  been  set  to  de- 
termine what  is  "  overeating  "  and  what 
is  "  improper  food."  The  reason  for  this 
is  probably  because  no  two  bodies  re- 
quire the  same  quantity  or  kind  of  nour- 
ishment, and,  "  What  is  one  man's  food 
is  another  man's  poison." 

Nature  has  not  been  so  unkind,  how- 


158    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

ever,  as  to  leave  man  without  a  means  of 
knowing  just  how  to  gauge  the  quantity 
of  food  required  for  her  best  service,  and 
probably,  when  we  learn  the  secret,  has 
equally  well  provided  us  with  certain 
discrimination  relative  to  the  quality  of 
food  that  is  best  for  harmonic  develop- 
ment. 

Investigation  never  fails  to  find  pro- 
vision for  both  guard  and  guide  in  all 
of  Nature's  plans  and  man's  nutrition  is 
of  such  importance  that  she  surely  has 
not  left  it  out  of  the  list  of  the  protected. 

Of  the  power  of  taste  to  discriminate 
accurately  in  the  matter  of  comparative 
value  of  foods  I  am  not  sure  as  yet, 
although  I  am  confident  the  power  rests 
somewhere  within  our  reach  if  we  can 
only  discover  it;  but  I  have  the  best 
evidence  possible  that  taste  has  the 
power  to  advise  accurately  in  the  matter 
of  the  kind  of  food  and  the  quantity  re- 
quired; and,  having  selected  what  it 
wants  or  needs  out  of  a  morsel  of  food, 
rejects  the  rest  by  ceasing  to  taste. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    159 

The  message  or  warning  which  taste 
gives  in  connection  with  eating  is,  "  THAT 

WHILE  ANY  TASTE  IS  LEFT  IN  A  MOUTHFUL 
OF  FOOD  IN  PROCESS  OF  MASTICATION  OR 
SUCKING,  IT  IS  NOT  YET  IN  CONDITION  TO 
BE  PASSED  ON  TO  THE  STOMACH  |  AND 
WHAT  REMAINS  AFTER  TASTE  HAS  CEASED 
IS  NOT  FIT  FOR  THE  STOMACH." 

WHAT    SENSE  ? 

When  one  comes  to  think  about  it, 
what  sense  is  there  in  throwing  away  a 
palatable  morsel  of  food  when  the  taste 
is  at  its  best,  or  while  taste  lasts  at  all, 
even  if  the  purpose  of  the  meal  is  merely 
to  contribute  to  the  pleasure  of  eating  ? 

"  Some  people  live  to  eat  and  others 
eat  to  live  "  is  a  saying  that  is  familiar 
to  everyone,  and  yet  how  few  appreciate 
that  the  perfection  of  living  includes  the 
perfection  of  both  these  desiderata ! 

Such  is  the  impetuosity  of  unculti- 
vated or  perverted  human  tendencies 
that  the  desire  for  acquisition,  some- 


160    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

times  called  greed,  impels  one  to  swal- 
low one  mouthful  of  food  to  take  in 
another,  without  ever  dreaming  that  the 
very  last  contribution  of  taste  to  the  last 
remnant  of  a  delicious  morsel  is  like  the 
last  flicker  of  a  candle,  more  brilliant 
than  any  of  the  preceding  ones.  In 
eating,  the  last  taste,  when  saliva,  the 
medium  of  taste,  is  most  perfectly  in 
possession  of  the  solution,  is  better  than 
all  the  other  stages  of  the  process.  It  is 
the  choicest  and  sweetest  expression  of 
the  incident,  as  related  to  each  mouth- 
ful. Then  why  not  court  it  and  obey, 
thereby,  Nature's  first  law  of  health  ? 
#  #  * 

Before  proceeding  further  with  a  de- 
scription of  its  functions  it  may  be  well 
to  state  briefly  the  certain  result  of  fol- 
lowing the  guidance  and  heeding  the 
warnings  of  taste. 

Taste  determines  the  mastication  of 
food  so  that  the  requisite  quantity  of 
saliva  and  other  juices  of  the  mouth  are 
added  in  transit,  so  that  the  stomach 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    161 

and  the  intestines  will  have  the  least 
possible  to  do  in  the  matter  of  conver- 
sion of  the  food  to  blood,  and  so  that 
the  brain  and  nerve  centres  will  be 
taxed  the  least  possible  to  assist  the 
stomach  and  intestines  in  their  work. 

If  Taste  is  heeded  in  its  invitation 
and  its  warnings,  that  which  passes  into 
the  stomach  will  be  so  suitable  and 
ready  for  nourishment  of  the  body  that 
the  smallest  possible  quantity  will  serve 
the  purpose  and  almost  no  waste  will  be 
left  to  tax  and  disease  the  lower  intes- 
tines, while  the  absence  of  fatally  inhar- 
monious deposits  in  the  tissue  and  bone 
will  cease  to  exist  in  proportion  to  the 
skill  with  which  one  interprets  the  warn- 
ings of  Taste,  and  in  response  to  the 
care  taken  in  following  them. 

DISEASE    PREVENTED 

It  is  said  that  none  of  the  microbes 
of  disease  can  live  an  instant,  and  hence 
cannot  propagate,  in  a  perfectly  healthy 


1 62    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

human  tissue.  It  is  possible  to  secure 
the  perfectly  healthy  human  tissue,  to 
both  the  generally  healthy  and  to  those 
who  are  afflicted,  unless  too  far  gone  to 
reform,  by  keen  attention  to  the  direc- 
tion of  Taste,  and  the  reward  of  the 
attention  is  manifold.  The  actual  pleas- 
ure derived  from  eating  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  method  suggested  herein 
cannot  be  equalled  by  any  other  means. 
*  #  * 

While  cheerfulness,  hopefulness,  good 
nature,  charity  and  all  the  mental  good 
qualities  are  splendid  forced-draughts  of 
oxygenised  impulse  that  assist  the  stom- 
ach in  consuming  and  otherwise  in 
taking  care  of  any  erratic  or  excessive 
food  supply,  and  are  able  to  help  take 
care  of  a  moderate  glut  of  material ; 
Taste,  if  allowed  to  serve  its  full  pur- 
pose, furnishes  its  own  draught  of  cheer- 
fulness by  means  of  the  very  pleasure  it 
distributes,  and  at  the  same  time  it 
prevents,  instead  of  inducing,  gluttony. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    163 

There  are  two  ways  of  putting  a 
limit  to  a  meal  —  to  eating.  One  — 
the  wrong  one  —  comes  in  the  shape 
of  a  protest  on  the  part  of  a  too  full 
stomach  while  the  appetite  is  yet  raven- 
ous. The  right  one  comes  naturally 
from  a  perfectly  satisfied  feeling  —  a 
ceasing  of  desire  for  anything  more, 
no  matter  how  previously  alluring  to  the 
palate,  before  the  stomach  is  overbur- 
dened. The  former  is  evidence  of  glut, 
or  gluttony,  and  the  latter  is  Nature's 
way,  for  which  there  is  every  desired 
reward. 


SOME    EASY    EXPERIMENTS 

It  is  a  very  easy  matter  to  prove  for 
one's  self  that  ample  saliva  is  essential 
to  the  most  economic  and  perfect  diges- 
tion ;  and  also,  that  no  two  mouthfuls 
of  food  require  the  same  quantity. 

Experiment  will  be  doubly  interest- 
ing in  that  it  reveals  pleasure  of  taste  in 
eating  that  has  not  before  been  enjoyed. 


1 64    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

The  function  of  saliva  in  digestion  has 
commonly  been  understood  to  be  the 
lubrication  of  the  food  so  as  to  enable  it 
to  be  swallowed.  The  truth  is  that  it  is 
the  first  and  most  important  solvent 
necessary  to  digestion,  the  good  offices 
of  which  are  to  separate,  make  alka- 
line, neutralise,  saponify,  and  otherwise 
render  the  succeeding  processes  within 
the  delicate  organs  of  the  body  as  easy 
as  their  delicacy  requires,  and  thus  not 
to  strain  and  inflame  them  into  fester- 
ing breeding  grounds  for  the  myriads  of 
microbes  of  diseases  which  we  are  com- 
pelled to  draw  in  with  every  breath  of 
air  we  inhale. 

Drawn  into  a  perfectly  clean  and 
healthy  organism,  some  microbes  aid  and 
are  a  part  of  life,  but  taken  into  a  system 
clogged  by  dirt  and  strained  by  over- 
work, these  same  harmless  creatures  be- 
come agents  of  destruction.  Bacilli 
may  be  either  friends  or  enemies  and 
we  have  the  choice. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    165 

NATURAL    LIFE    LIMIT 

t 

It  is  said  that  the  natural  life  of  all 
animals,  left  to  pursue  a  natural  exist- 
ence by  being  protected  from  the  ene- 
mies of  their  species,  and  in  reach  of 
sufficient  nourishment,  is  six  times  the 
growing  period.  If  this  is  so  no  man 
need  die  or  move  his  soul  to  another 
habitation  until  he  has  occupied  the 
present  one  for  from  one  hundred  and 
ten  to  one  hundred  and  forty  years.  If 
the  proper  use  of  the  instincts  and 
senses  be  conserved  in  children,  the 
growing  period  may  be  prolonged  to 
probably  twenty-five  years  with  a  re- 
sultant tenure  of  life  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  years. 

I  have  personally  interviewed  a  patri- 
arch, who,  at  sixty-five,  was  awaiting 
death  with  constant  expectancy,  and 
was  helping  to  attain  it  by  every  sort 
of  favourable  suggestion.  It  happened 
that  he  had  his  portrait  taken  in  a  pho- 
tograph gallery  on  his  sixty-fifth  birth- 


1 66    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

day  as  a  last  souvenir  to  be  distributed 
among  his  friends.  Shortly  after  that, 
in  the  fruity  and  salubrious  foothills 
of  the  Pacific  Coast  of  California,  he 
met  with  accidental  suggestion  which 
changed  his  habits  of  living,  and,  very 
soon,  his  attitude  toward  life  and  death. 
I  sat  with  the  patriarch  on  his  one 
hundredth  birthday  in  the  same  photo- 
graph gallery,  examined  the  portraits  of 
sixty-five  and  one  hundred  years,  con- 
versed with  the  subject  in  a  low  tone 
of  voice,  looked  upon  a  man  who  felt 
that  he  was  yet  in  middle  life,  and  in 
possession  of  an  enjoyment  of  life  that 
he  said  had  never  been  equalled  in  the 
early  years  of  his  bondage  to  the  igno- 
rance and  impatience  of  youth.1 
*  *  * 

STUDY  NATURE 

Watch  good  Nature,  observe  her 
methods,  try  to  imitate  them  by  way 
of  experiment,  and  you  will  find  that, 

1  The  rejuvenated  patriarch  is  still  alive  in  1903. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    167 

as  heretofore  stated,  there  is  a  perfect 
way  enfolded  in  all  of  Nature's  problems 
and  that  man  has  only  to  discover  the 
way  to  have  it  freely  accessible  to  him. 

Watch  a  child  take  its  nourishment 
in  natural  manner.  The  sucking  action 
is  like  the  act  of  mastication  in  that  it 
excites  the  glands  which  supply  fluids  to 
the  mouth.  Whatever  number  of  these 
fluids  there  may  be,  I  will  class  them  all 
as  saliva.  Certainly  in  the  case  of  milk 
being  taken  into  the  stomach,  saliva  is 
not  needed  to  lubricate  it.  It  is,  there- 
fore, reasonable  to  suppose  that  saliva 
is  intended  as  a  part  of  the  mixture 
necessary  to  digestion ;  that  is,  to  the 
conversion  of  the  food  into  nutriment. 

In  the  case  of  children  nourished  at 
the  breast  of  the  mother  —  the  only 
natural  way  —  the  food  is  already  alka- 
line and  ready  for  digestion  in  the 
stomach  and  intestines  as  related  pre- 
viously. 

Remember  also  that,  in  the  case  of 
invalids  with  very  weak  stomachs,  phy- 


1 68    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

sicians  recommend  taking  milk  and 
broth  through  a  straw  or  through  a 
glass  tube.  Taking  fluid  this  way  re- 
quires a  sucking  action  of  the  mouth 
and  thereby  induces  a  flow  of  saliva. 
Of  course,  the  fluid  is  better  digested 
than  when  drunk  because  Nature's  way 
has  been  followed,  and  it  is  no  wonder 
that  milk  and  often  soups  of  different 
kinds  are  indigestible,  if  taken  contrary 
to  the  natural  way,  except  in  digestive 
systems  which  have  not  yet  exhausted 
their  ten-horse-power  resistance  capacity. 
I  have  tried  milk  and  soups  upon 
a  stomach  trained  down  so  fine  that 
it  was  like  a  pair  of  apothecary's  bal- 
ances, sensitive  to  the  least  inharmony, 
to  find  that  if  they  are  drunk  there  is 
a  mild  protest  —  a  sort  of  a  shrug  of 
the  shoulders,  as  it  were  —  and  that 
when  the  same  liquids  have  been  moved 
about  in  the  mouth  for  the  time  neces- 
sary to  naturally  excite  the  Swallowing 
Impulse,  they  have  passed  into  the 
stomach  without  the  owner  being  con- 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    169 

scious  afterwards  of  their  presence  ex- 
cept by  feeling  of  complete  satisfaction. 

It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  the 
perfection  of  nutrition  requires  the 
proper  mixture  of  saliva  added  to  all 
food  substances,  and  that  mastication 
is  not  only  a  means  of  separation  in 
order  to  give  saliva  a  chance  but  a 
valve  opener  for  salivary  glands  in  order 
to  make  the  proper  solution  for  the 
stomach ;  and,  that  taste  exists,  in  one 
of  its  important  functions,  to  indicate 
how  long  the  process  should  continue 
and  when  it  has  effected  its  healthful 
purpose. 

Any  one  who  tries  it,  no  matter  how 
perverted  the  taste  has  become  by 
abuse,  will  find  that  Nature  is  not  only 
kind  but  alluring.  Meat  or  bread,  with- 
out sauces  or  butter,  are  tasteless,  in  a 
degree,  when  first  taken  into  the  mouth 
dry.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  butter, 
sauces,  salt,  sugar,  etc.,  are  used  to 
make  them  what  is  called  palatable. 
It  is  the  salt  or  the  sugar  or  other 


1 70    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

spices  in  these  which  excites  the  palate 
immediately  when  the  dry  morsel  would 
not  do  so  in  such  marked  degree. 

If  you  take  the  meat  or  the  dry  bread 
and  masticate  sufficiently,  allowing  the 
nutriment  to  become  thoroughly  solved 
by  the  saliva  and  separated  from  the 
dirt,  —  the  indigestible,  tasteless  re- 
mainder —  the  taste  will  become  more 
and  more  delicious  as  the  saliva  gets 
possession  of  the  solution,  and  will  have 
a  final  delicacy  which  sauces  cannot 
equal,  as  a  reward  for  pursuing  Nature's 
invitation  and  rendering  her  the  ap- 
pointed service. 

An  easy  experiment  that  will  prove 
the  above  statement  to  be  correct  is  to 
take  a  variety  of  breads,  white  and 
brown,  toasted  and  untoasted,  crust  and 
soft,  and  afterwards  some  of  the  same 
soaked  in  soup  or  milk,  or,  in  the  juice 
of  whatever  meat  you  happen  to  have 
at  your  meal. 

Taken  dry,  toast  will  only  reduce  and 
disappear,  without  effort  of  swallowing, 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    171 

into  the  stomach,  leaving  no  tasteless 
dregs  behind,  after  about  thirty  actions 
of  the  jaw.  This  is  probably  the  reason 
why  toast  is  an  invalid's  best  diet; 
because  mastication  is  required  to  crush 
it,  saliva  is  liberated  by  the  acts  of 
mastication,  less  saliva  is  required  to 
prepare  toast  for  the  stomach  than  any 
other  form  of  bread,  and  therefore,  the 
proper  conditions  are  attained  perforce, 
and  easy  digestion  is  promoted.  Crust 
of  French  bread  will  do  the  same  by 
means  of  about  forty  jets  let  loose  by 
mastication ;  the  soft  inside  of  French 
bread  will  require  fifty,  or  more;  crust 
and  inside  of  biscuits  and  of  "  home- 
made" bread  somewhat  more  than  the 
French  bread  ;  while  "  Boston  brown 
bread  "  requires  as  many  as  seventy  to 
eighty  jets  turned  on  by  action  of  mas- 
tication to  dissolve  it. 

The  above  refers  to  moderate  mouth- 
fuls.  The  process  is  incomplete  until 
all  is  dissolved,  taste  ceases,  and  natural 
swallowing  occurs. 


1 72    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

Will  it  not  be  observed  that  mastica- 
tion, as  far  as  crushing  or  mangling  is 
concerned,  has  small  part  in  the  reduc- 
tion of  "  Boston  brown  bread,"  and  little 
seeming  use  except  to  turn  on  the  jets 
of  the  solving  saliva,  for  the  material 
itself  is  soft,  and  sometimes  "  mushy  "  ? 
Saliva  has  little  use  as  a  lubricant  in 
this  case,  for  the  reason  that  the  brown 
bread  experimented  with  can  be  easily 
swallowed  when  first  taken  in  the  mouth. 
Abundant  experiment  has  been  made  by 
those  to  whom  "  Boston  brown  bread " 
was  formerly  little  less  than  a  poison,  to 
prove  the  assertion  that,  sufficiently 
mixed  with  saliva,  it  is  perfectly  digesti- 
ble and  that  the  delicious  taste  of  the 
bread  after  forty  or  fifty  bites  (J  to  £ 
minute)  gets  sweeter  and  sweeter,  and 
attains  its  greatest  sweetness  and  most 
delicate  taste  at  the  very  last,  when  it 
has  dissolved  into  liquid  form  and  most 
of  it  has  escaped  into  the  stomach. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  time,  or 
attention,  required  to  solve  these  differ- 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    173 

ent  problems  of  nutrition  as  embodied 
in  different  sorts  of  breads  is  exactly 
proportionate  to  their  recognised  diges- 
tibility, and  explains  the  reason  why  hot 
and  "  soggy  "  biscuits,  after  the  Ameri- 
can fashion,  and  "  Boston  brown  bread  " 
have  been  classed  as  not  easily  digestible. 

Still  further  proof  of  my  contention 
in  favour  of  the  importance  of  taste  as  a 
guide  and  guard  in  the  process  of  nutri- 
tion is  that,  if  you  soak  soft  bread,  or 
even  toast,  in  the  juice  or  gravy  of  any 
meat,  the  number  of  masticatory  or 
tasting  movements  necessary  to  fit  it 
for  the  stomach  and  satisfy  the  taste 
will  be  about  the  number  required  to 
masticate  raw  meat  from  which  the 
juice  has  come  and  not  such  only  as 
would  seem  requisite  on  account  of  the 
softness  of  the  substance  when  made 
pulpy  by  soaking  and  which  might  be 
forcibly  swallowed  at  once. 

Tests  like  these  alone  are  sufficient 
to  prove  my  contention,  but,  when  the 
result  of  the  experiments  is  so  immedi- 


174    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

ate  for  good  in  every  direction,  as  it  has 
proved  itself  to  be  in  all  cases  tried, 
there  is  no  longer  doubt  but  that  Na- 
ture's most  important  secret  relative  to 
human  alimentation  has  been  heretofore 
practically  undiscovered ;  that  is,  as  far 
as  any  inquiry  I  have  been  able  to 
make  sheds  light  upon  the  subject. 

The  result,  in  all  the  cases  of  my 
observation,  has  been  an  immediate  re- 
sponse of  naturally  increased  energy; 
approach  of  weight  toward  the  normal, 
whether  the  subject  was  over-weight  or 
under-weight;  a  great  falling  off  of  the 
waste  to  be  discharged  by  the  avenue  of 
the  lower  intestines  and  also  through 
the  kidneys;  relief  of  bleeding  hemor- 
rhoids and  catarrh  —  the  diseases  suf- 
fered by  the  patients ;  emancipation 
from  headaches ;  clearing  of  the  tongue 
of  the  yellow  deposit  —  usually  called 
fur  —  that  is  an  indication  of  rotten 
conditions  in  the  stomach;  and  return 
of  the  energy  for  work  which  all  men 
and  women  should  have,  and  which 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    I  75 

finds  expression  in  healthy  children  in 
the  form  of  great  energy  for  play. 

The  tax  upon  the  lower  intestines 
has  been,  in  my  experiments,  reduced 
so  that  there  was  no  invitation  to  relief 
more  frequently  than  once  in  four  or 
five  days,  and  the  quantity  of  the  deposit 
was  less  than  half  the  quantity  of  a 
usual  daily  contribution  to  waste  under 
former  methods  of  taking  in  nourish- 
ment, thereby  proving  the  fact  that 
appetite  and  taste,  when  given  full 
chance  to  serve,  serve  us  well. 

This  feature  (quantity  of  waste)  dif- 
fered in  the  cases  of  the  different  per- 
sons experimented  with  according  to 
the  carefulness  with  which  they  obeyed 
the  test  injunctions.  In  some,  greed 
abnormality  could  not  quickly  be  over- 
come, but,  as  the  subjects  were  selected  in 
part  from  the  stratum  of  society  where 
want  is  the  constant  dread,  it  is  not  to 
be  wondered  at  that  a  lifetime  habit  of 
tremor  and  greed  should  resist  even  the 
dictates  of  their  reason.  But  it  was  in 


176    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

these  that  the  revelation  excited  the  high- 
est appreciation  at  last  when  they  were 
put  in  possession  of  faculties  and  strength 
that  they  had  supposed  the  Creator  had 
denied  them  in  a  world  of  suffering. 

There  is  no  doubt  but  that  it  is  pos- 
sible to  introduce  nutrition  into  the 
system  wherein,  or  rather  wherewith, 
there  is  little  or  no  waste  material. 

One  physician,  to  whom  I  applied 
for  information,  suggested  that  too  fine 
an  application  of  my  method  might 
finally  do  away  with  the  lower  intestines 
altogether  from  the  same  cause  that  any 
unused  member  of  the  body,  and  also 
unnourished  members,  shrivel  and  dis- 
appear in  time. 

While  this  is  possible,  the  means 
taken  towards  it  are  productive  of  mar- 
vellous good  results ;  and,  if  there  were 
no  further  use,  what  purpose  would  they 
serve  ? l 

1  Dr.  George  Monks  of  Boston,  Massachusetts, 
has  recently  called  the  attention  of  the  author  to  the 
fact  that  the  length  of  the  intestines  in  man  have  been 
known  to  vary  from  nine  feet  to  twenty-nine  feet. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    177 

Think  of  the  number  of  separate  com- 
plaints that  are  attributable  to  trouble  of 
the  lower  intestines,  and  think  of  the 
relief  coming  with  their  return  to  nor- 
mal conditions  in  performing  infrequent 
service  with  the  ease  of  rejuvenated 
strength !  Such  was  the  case  with  all 
of  the  subjects  under  test,  and  it  was  a 
revelation  which  was  as  the  opening  of 
a  new  life  to  even  those  who  had  suf- 
fered least,  and  had  thought  themselves 
fortunate  as  to  health  conditions. 

I  hope  I  will  be  excused  for  using 
the  terms  "  dirt,"  "rotten,"  "glutton," 
etc.  I  know  they  will  give  a  shock  to 

In  the  longer  ones  the  papilla  convenenti  which  serve 
for  absorption  and  which  line  the  inside  of  the  intes- 
tines extended  only  part  way  down  the  channel,  but  in 
the  shorter  ones  they  lined  the  channel  throughout  its 
entire  length,  giving  inferential  evidence  that  the  strain 
of  continued  excess  of  waste  material  had  lengthened 
the  intestines  for  the  sole  purpose  of  providing  storage 
room  for  the  waste.  Metchnikoff,  the  head  of  the  Pas- 
teur Institute,  Paris,  has  even  proposed  removing  some 
eighteen  feet  of  intestine  by  surgical  operation,  in- 
cluding the  troublesome  vermiform  appendix,  as  being 
unnecessary  in  connection  with  cooking  and  the  preva- 
lence of  partly  predigested  foods. 


178    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

sensitive  conventionality,  but  is  it  not 
better  to  shock  conventionality  with  a 
proscribed  term,  if  it  means  just  what  it 
says,  and  nothing  else,  than  to  shock 
the  delicate  organism  of  our  machinery 
of  life  by  throwing  dirt  into  its  furnace 
with  good  fuel,  and  thereby  allowing  the 
glut  of  ashes  therefrom  to  encumber  the 
journals  of  our  mechanism,  to  the  waste 
of  our  power  and  to  the  wearing  out  of 
our  machinery  ? 

#        *        * 

Disease  is  nothing  but  dirt  in  the 
system  and  the  result  of  dirt.  It  is 
our  own  dirt  at  that,  having  been  in- 
troduced by  our  own  carelessness  or  as 
the  result  of  combined  ignorance  and 
greed. 

Ignorance  has  excused  and  does  ex- 
cuse the  responsibility ;  but,  when  we 
have  providentially  been  provided  a 
way  by  Nature  to  select  and  sift  and 
prepare  perfect  fuel  for  the  furnace  of 
our  Life-Power-Plant,  there  can  be  no 
further  excuse  for  not  following  the 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    179 

teaching  to  the  extreme  of  the  last  pos- 
sible refinement. 

#        #        # 

I  will  not  presume  to  say  what  and 
whom  good  Doctor  Appetite,  with  the 
assistance  of  Doctor  Taste,  can  cure. 
They  have  both  cured  and  greatly  re- 
lieved rheumatism,  gout,  eczema,  obes- 
ity, under-weight,  bleeding-piles,  blotches 
and  pimples,  catarrh,  "  that  tired  feel- 
ing," muddy  complexion,  indigestion, 
and  yellow-tongue,  within  four  months. 
It  has  been  revealed  that  attention  to 
their  invitation  and  warning  cures  un- 
natural craving  and  beautifully  appeases 
appetite  desires  with  one-third  the  usual 
food ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  they  teach 
an  appreciation  and  enjoyment  of  food 
quite  new  even  to  bon  vivants. 

Any  person  can  employ  Dr.  Normal 
Appetite  and  consult  Dr.  Good  Taste 
free  of  all  charge,  and  make  endless 
discoveries  in  the  possibility  of  delight- 
ful and  healthfully  economic  nutrition. 

The  suggestion  was  originally  given 


l8o    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

by  the  author  in  crudest  form  with  the 
assurance  of  physiologists  that  trial  of 
it  involved  no  risk,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
that  it  led  in  the  right  direction  toward 
preventing  disease.  I  felt  that  it  was  too 
important  to  be  withheld  from  those  who 
do  not  know  the  existence  of  Nature's 
perfect  way  provided  by  the  Senses  of 
Appetite  and  Taste. 

Record  of  careful  tests  and  results 
will  probably  follow  in  another  volume. 
The  author  has  entered  the  field  of  in- 
vestigation to  find  deterrents  to  Nature's 
perfect  development  and  will  not  rest 
while  any  remain.1 

With  even  the  crude  hint,  that 
health  can  be  secured  and  maintained  by 
consulting  and  respecting  Appetite  and 
Taste,  each  person  having  either  can 
assist  in  the  investigation. 

1  At  the  present  time,  five  years  after  this  promise 
was  made,  the  author  is  happy  to  say  that  it  has  been 
faithfully  kept  and  with  important  results  steadily 
accruing. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    l8l 
SUGGESTION    AND    DIRECTIONS 

For  initial  experiment,  do  not  change 
any  of  your  present  habits  of  living  as  to 
time  of  meals,  kind  of  food,  etc. 

Following  the  directions  given  here- 
after will  undoubtedly  lead  to  just  the 
right  thing  for  you  in  these  regards. 

There  is  no  doubt  but  that  the  early 
morning  meal  is  not  productive  of  the 
best  results  in  nutrition  and  strength, 
but  it  is  better  to  have  Appetite  sug- 
gest the  necessary  change  in  accustomed 
habits.  Dr.  Dewey's  advice  in  the  "  No- 
Breakfast  "  regimen  is  excellent.  The 
getting-up  craving  is  not  an  earned 
appetite. 

Forced  abstinence  from  a  heavy  morn- 
ing meal  will  surely  bring  about  normal 
conditions  of  appetite  which  are  best 
adapted  to  perfect  nutrition,  so  that  if 
the  invitation  to  give  up  the  morning 
gorge  voluntarily  does  not  overcome 
perverse  habit,  the  heroic  denial  may 
be  tried. 


1 82    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

The  value  of  the  discovery  lies  in  re- 
cognising the  fact  that  Taste  still  has 
important  work  to  do  with  passing  food 
while  yet  there  is  taste,  and  that  what 
remains  after  Taste  ceases  to  express 
itself  should  not  go  into  the  stomach. 

The  ease  with  which  one  will  learn 
to  enjoy  and  "  hang  on  "  to  food  in  the 
mouth,  even  milk  and  soup,  after  he  has 
learned  a  good  reason  for  doing  so,  will 
quickly  create  a  counter  habit  which  is 
in  accordance  with  Nature '$  perfect  way. 

When  one  has  discovered  the  delight 
of  that  last  indescribably  sweet  flash  of 
taste,  which  Taste  offers  as  a  pousse  cafe 
to  those  who  serve  it  with  respect,  he 
will  find  any  food  that  Appetite  selects 
is  needed  for  his  nutrition,  and  is  good. 

Remember  this !  Salt,  sugar,  some 
sauces  and  spices  which  are  used  to 
make  food  palatable  may  be  in  them- 
selves nutritious,  but  do  not  let  them 
mislead  you.  The  tendency  is  to  relish 
them  and  think  that  they  represent  the 
food  they  disguise,  which,  however,  is 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    183 

often  only  an  excuse  for  them,  and  has 
very  little  nutrition  itself.  In  this  case  a 
morsel  of  food  is  taken  into  the  mouth, 
the  sauce  or  spice  which  it  carries  meets 
immediate  response  from  Taste  and  dis- 
appears, whereupon  the  indigestible  food 
morsel  is  swallowed  in  indigestible  con- 
dition so  as  to  admit  another  sauce-laden 
supply. 

The  most  nutritious  food  does  not 
require  sauces.  It  may  seem  dry  and 
tasteless  to  the  first  impression,  but,  as 
the  juices  of  the  mouth  get  possession 
of  it,  warm  it  up,  solve  its  life-giving 
qualities  out  of  it  and  coax  it  into  use- 
fulness, the  delight  of  a  new-found  deli- 
cacy will  greet  the  discoverer. 

It  may  be  difficult,  at  first,  to  avoid 
swallowing  food  before  it  is  thoroughly 
separated,  the  nutriment  dissolved  and 
the  dirt  rejected,  but  after  a  little  prac- 
tice there  will  be  no  difficulty.  On  the 
contrary,  there  will  be  an  involuntary 
habit  of  retention  established  that  will 
be  as  tenacious  of  a  morsel  of  food  till 


1 84    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

that  last  and  sweetest  taste  has  been 
found,  as  a  dog  is  tenacious  of  a  savory 
bone. 

Did  it  ever  occur  to  gum  chewers 
that  the  gum  is  simply  an  exciter  of 
saliva,  and  that  the  sweet  taste  is  the 
nutritious  dextrin  in  the  saliva  and  has 
nothing  to  do  with  the  gum  ?  In  the 
ordinary  "  watering  of  the  mouth  "  the 
same  sweet  taste  is  experienced. 

Another  important  fact  in  this  con- 
nection, and  which  belongs  in  the  list 
of  "directions"  because  it  is  a  leader, 
is,  that  perfect  nutrition  is  a  source  of 
ample  saliva,  the  effect  thereby  repro- 
ducing the  cause  in  friendly  reciprocity. 

It  will  be  found  that,  when  normal 
conditions  have  been  attained  through 
attention  to  the  inspection,  selection  and 
rejection  of  Taste,  when  the  tongue  has 
lost  its  malarial  yellow  scum  and  when 
Hunger  is  represented  by  healthful  Ap- 
petite and  has  dismissed  bilious  and 
insatiable  Craving  from  its  service,  there 
will  at  all  times  be  a  delicately  sweet 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    185 

taste  in  the  mouth  which  will  prevent 
craving  for  anything  else.  For  instance, 
a  person  in  possession  of  normal  taste 
conditions  may  pass  a  confectionery 
shop  or  a  fruit  stand  without  temp- 
tation to  eat  of  their  wares,  for  they 
would  spoil  the  taste  already  in  posses- 
sion of  the  mouth. 

The  expert  wine  tasters  in  Rhine- 
land,  where  the  full  flavour  of  the  lus- 
cious fruit  is  retained  in  the  wine  as 
Nature  put  it  there,  never  drink  wine. 
They  breathe  it  into  the  mouth  and 
atomise  it  on  the  tongue  with  utmost 
relish.  To  them  the  swallowing  of  the 
precious  juice  without  dissipation  by 
taste  is  an  unpardonable  sacrilege.  The 
Bavarians  also,  whose  beer  is  the  best 
in  the  world,  practically  do  not  drink 
beer  as  Americans  are  accustomed  to 
seeing  it  drunk.  They  sit  over  a  stein 
of  beer  for  an  hour,  reading  or  chatting 
with  friends.  The  epicurean  drinkers 
of  what  has  been  termed  eau  de  vie  in 
France  sit  and  sip  a  "  pony  "  of  their 


1 86    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

beloved  Cognac  while  they  enjoy  a  view 
of  pastoral  loveliness  or  a  throng  of 
passers-by  in  a  boulevard  of  Paris. 
None  of  these  people  drink  anything 
but  water  and  hence  are  not  drunkards ; 
and,  at  the  same  time,  they  have  full 
enjoyment  of  Nature's  most  stimulating 
and  delicious  compounds  in  a  form  pre- 
served by  Nature  for  the  use  of  man. 

The  taste  of  these  students  of  nutri- 
tion becomes  so  discriminating  that 
they  can  distinguish  a  wine  or  a  beer 
or  a  cognac,  as  they  would  distinguish 
between  intimate  friends  and  strangers. 
The  year,  the  vineyard,  the  state  of  the 
weather,  or  any  accident  that  may  have 
surrounded  the  development  of  the 
fruit  are  as  distinguishable  to  these 
epicures  in  the  essential  juices  as  are 
the  marks  on  men  which  indicate  pros- 
perity, happiness  or  any  stamp  of  en- 
vironment whatever. 

An  epicurean  cannot  be  a  glutton. 
There  may  be  gluttons  who  are  less 
gluttonous  than  other  gluttons,  but  epi- 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    187 

cureanism  is  like  politeness  and  cleanli- 
ness, and  is  the  certain  mark  of  gentility. 

A  physiological  chemist,  a  friend 
of  the  author,  who  is  responsible  for  the 
suggestion  that  the  function  of  saliva 
in  turning  the  starches  of  our  food 
into  nutritious  glucose  may  never  have 
been  fully  given  a  chance  to  act,  thus 
accounts  for  the  last  delicate  sweet  taste 
which  is  attained  by  complete  mastica- 
tion. It  is  then  a  perfect  solution,  and 
hence  the  delicacy  of  the  taste. 

For  illustration,  try  a  ship's  biscuit  — 
commonly  called  hardtack  —  and  keep 
it  in  the  mouth,  tasting  it  as  you  would 
a  piece  of  sugar,  till  it  has  disappeared 
entirely,  and  note  what  a  treasure  of 
delight  there  is  in  it. 

Taste  will  teach  the  experimenter 
more  than  I  can  even  suggest.  I  simply 
offer  an  introduction  to  Doctor  N. 
Appetite  and  to  Doctor  G.  Taste  and 
state  some  of  their  excellences  that  I  have 
discovered  through  their  attentions  to 
myself  and  others  under  my  direction. 


1 88    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

I  will,  however,  give  a  resume  of  my 
own  experience  as  a  guide. 

PERSONAL   CASE,   INITIAL   CONDITION 

Age,  49  years ;  height,  5  feet  7  inches. 
Extremes  of  weight  for  fifteen  years  (in 
ordinary  clothing)  minimum,  198  Ibs. ; 
maximum,  217  Ibs.  Chest  measure, 
varying  but  little,  if  any,  42  inches ; 
waist  measure  (tailor's)  43  to  44  inches. 
Usual  weight  during  the  time,  about 
205  Ibs. 

My  experiments  began  near  the 
middle  of  June,  but  with  no  systematic 
application  until  the  middle  of  July, 
1898;  weight  on  June  ist,  probably 
over  205  Ibs.,  in  summer  clothing. 

SPEEDY   IMPROVEMENT 

On  October  loth,  as  a  result  of  the 
experiments,  weight  163  Ibs.,  and  sta- 
tionary ;  chest  measure  same  as  before, 
but  waist  measure  reduced  to  37  inches, 
or  one  inch  below  the  "  tailor's  ideal," 
and  nearly  down  to  the  "  athlete's  ideal." 


The  energy  and  desire  for  activity 
with  immunity  from  fatigue,  which  was 
the  characteristic  equipment  of  twenty 
years  ago  returned,  but  not,  of  course, 
the  trained  muscular  strength  or  supple- 
ness of  athletic  days. 

The  food  invited  by  Appetite  at  this 
stage,  the  nutriment  in  which  counter- 
balanced the  waste  in  each  twenty-four 
hours,  consisted  of  about  thirty  ordinary 
mouthfuls  of  potato,  bread,  meat,  or 
anything  selected  by  Appetite,  masti- 
cated and  manipulated  to  the  end. 

One  meal  a  day  was  taken  for  con- 
venience, and  because  it  seemed,  under 
the  then  existing  circumstances,  hot 
summer  weather,  to  be  the  time  set  by 
Nature  for  eating.  "  I  rise  in  the  morn- 
ing," as  a  champion  pugilist  once  put  it, 
"  when  my  bed  gets  tired  of  me,"  which 
at  the  time  was  usually  before,  or  at, 
daylight,  and  began  writing  or  other 
work.  By  one  o'clock  I  usually  was 
"worked  out,"  but  had  already  disposed 
of  practically  a  day's  work.  Then,  in 


1 90    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

the  middle  of  the  day,  when  all  the 
animals  rest  and  some  of  them  chew 
the  cud,  I  took  my  meal.  I  had  not, 
meantime,  experienced  a  moment  of 
craving  for  anything  since  the  meal  of 
the  day  before,  but  I  sat  down  with  an 
epicurean  appetite. 

The  article  of  food  on  the  menu  that 
first  attracted  me,  I  fixed  my  desire 
upon.  At  the  time  it  was  usually  a 
meat  or  a  fish,  and  there  accompanied 
it  only  a  cup  of  coffee,  nine-tenths  milk, 
bread  and  butter,  and  potato.  Some- 
times the  meat  selected  was  an  entree, 
and  was  garnished  with  rice  and  other 
fruits  or  vegetables. 

About  thirty  mouthfuls  of  these,  dis- 
posed of  in  something  less  than  twenty- 
five  hundred  acts  of  mastication  or  other 
movement  of  the  mouth,  and  taking 
about  thirty  minutes  to  thirty-five  min- 
utes, satisfied  the  appetite  so  perfectly 
that  all  the  ices  and  desserts  on  a 
sumptuous  bill  of  fare  had  no  attraction. 

In  the  meantime,  water  was  drunk, 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    191 

in  small  portions  slowly,  and  ice  water 
at  that,  without  restriction,  to  satisfy 
thirst,  but  not  when  any  food  was  in 
process.  In  the  mouth  the  water  was 
almost  instantly  brought  to  body-tem- 
perature and  its  coolness  was  very  agree- 
able to  all  the  senses.  I  now  rarely 
take  any  water  except  in  very  hot  weather 
when  perspiration  is  active  and  then 
only  enough  to  quench  thirst,  excess 
giving  discomfort  and  necessitating 
more  perspiration.  Water  injures  diges- 
tion by  being  taken  with  meals  only  be- 
cause it  is  used  to  wash  down  food  not 
yet  prepared  for  the  stomach.  It  is  the 
unfit  food  that  is  carried  down  by  it  and 
not  the  water  that  does  the  harm. 

One  cup  of  cafe  au  lait,  well  sweet- 
ened, sipped  and  enjoyed  according  to 
the  epicurean  method,  satisfied  all  de- 
sire for  other  sweets  and  created  a  har- 
mony of  variety  that  was  simply  perfect, 
while  it  was  perfectly  simple. 

I  did  not  try  to  work,  or  think,  for 
some  time  after  the  meal;  that  is,  I  did 


192    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

not  force  thought ;  but  reading,  a  cat 
nap,  a  walk,  a  matinee,  a  ball  game,  or  a 
ride  in  a  trolley  car  were  recreations 
which  I  was  able  to  enjoy  as  a  sort  of 
Pousse  cafe  for  two  or  three  hours  after 
the  meal,  and  then  the  energy  for  work 
returned,  so  that  if  there  were  something 
yet  to  be  done  in  the  time  before  the 
accustomed  bed  hour,  another  day's 
work  was  easily  accomplished. 

Athletic  work,  physical  labour,  ex- 
treme activity  in  any  form,  all  benefit  by 
the  same  treatment,  as  I  have  since  been 
able  to  prove  both  personally  and  by 
experiment  with  others.  The  only  dif- 
ference is  the  greater  waste  of  tissue, 
and  the  greater  need  for  restorage,  de- 
manding an  evening  meal  and  possibly 
an  earlier  midday  meal. 

Exercise,  work,  activity  —  anything 
that  creates  a  demand  for  nutriment  is 
the  especial  friend  of  Taste.  It  gives 
healthy  appetite  and  hence  there  is 
plenty  for  Taste  to  do  and  he  likes  to 
be  of  service. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    193 

At  first,  rules  have  to  be  followed  in 
order  to  serve  Economic  Nutrition  to  the 
best  advantage,  but  they  soon  become 
habits  of  life,  or  living,  that  will  naturally 
come  of  themselves  from  attention  to 
Taste  according  to  these  directions. 

It  has  been  our  experience,  that  if 
there  are  any  diseases  growing  out  of 
overstraining  of  the  lower  intestines,  kid- 
neys, liver,  etc.,  they  will  soon  disappear. 

Perfect  nutrition  does  away  with  the 
waste  until  there  will  be  no  invitation  to 
discharge  oftener  than  once  in  four  or 
five  days,  when  the  response  will  be  easy 
and  final,  with  less  than  half  the  quan- 
tity of  an  ordinary  daily  contribution. 

There  are  wealth,  health,  strength, 
long  life,  abundant  usefulness  and  much 
resultant  happiness  offered  as  a  reward 
for  learning  and  following  Nature's  Per- 
fect Way. 

When  we  learn  that  obeying  Nature's 
Laws  emancipates  us  from  the  slavery  to 
cravings  of  unnatural  appetite,  releases 
us  from  constant  attention  on  meals, 


194    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

does  away  with  at  least  half  the  drudgery 
of  woman's  work  and  makes  us  immune 
from  the  attacks  of  microbes  of  disease, 
it  is  then  no  hardship  to  take  a  few  les- 
sons in  the  Art  of  Economic  Nutrition. 

Every  artificial  method  that  has  been 
suggested  to  coax  Nature  into  changing 
her  problems  to  suit  man's  poor  inter- 
pretation has  failed,  but  Nature  has 
been  patient  withal.  Her  door  to  re- 
form is  never  closed,  and  her  patience 
is  boundless  towards  prodigal  and  fool- 
ish children. 

Nature  has  put  the  keenest  of  the 
senses  at  the  threshold  of  life  to  serve 
both  as  hosts  and  servants,  but  Apprecia- 
tion has  heretofore  failed  to  recognise 
their  true  office,  while  Ignorance,  blinded 
by  Greed,  has  spurned  and  abused  the 
best  of  servants.1 

1  The  "  symptoms "  in  the  personal  case  of  the 
author  described  above  persist  after  five  years'  test  and 
experience.  The  endurance-test  of  the  half-century 
birthday  in  France,  the  observations  of  Dr.  Burnett  in 
Washington,  and  the  examinations  in  the  laboratories 
of  Cambridge  and  Yale  all  tell  the  same  story  of  a 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    195 


SOME    PERTINENT    QUERIES 

If  Nature  has  revealed  a  perfect  way 
to  the  easy  solution  of  all  of  her  prob- 
lems, as  related  to  the  affairs  of  animals 
and  plant  life,  WHAT  SENSE  is  there 
in  thinking  that  she  has  discriminated 
against  her  Chief  Assistant  in  Cultiva- 
tion, Man  ? 

If  Nature  has  provided  animals  with 
keen  discrimination  in  the  matter  of 

reformed  and  increasing  efficiency  even  with  five  years 
of  added  age  handicap,  so  that  the  logic  of  the  advice 
originally  given  in  this  book  stands  proved,  so  far.  I 
have  had  my  weight  reduced  from  217  pounds  to  130 
pounds  and  felt  best  when  lightest.  I  carry  my  weight 
at  any  figure  desired,  but  most  of  the  time  carry  a  20- 
pound  handicap  in  winter  and  sometimes  in  summer 
to  calm  the  fears  of  solicitous  friends,  who  think  I 
must  be  ill  when  I  am  not  looking  "robust."  Ex- 
treme robustness  is  a  great  danger  to  life.  A  partner 
of  the  author  in  early  days  in  California,  several  years 
his  junior  and  just  in  the  prime  of  life  and  fortune, 
passed  away  from  over-robustness,  as  have  many  of 
the  world's  brightest  and  best  citizens.  Six  of  the 
author's  chums  of  ten  years  ago  have  died  because 
of  too  much  robustness  and  worry.  They  heeded  not. 
The  author  may  follow  them,  any  moment,  but  mean- 
time he  is  enjoying  life  as  never  before. 


196    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

healthful  food,  WHAT  SENSE  is  there 
in  doubting  her  good  intentions  toward 
the  highest  form  of  animal  in  this 
regard  ? 

If  Taste  is  the  sentinel  of  the  stomach 
and  also  the  purveyor  and  inspector  of 
nutrition,  WHAT  SENSE  is  there  in 
ascribing  to  it  the  lowest  place  in  the 
list  of  the  senses  ? 

If  we  enjoy  eating,  and  are  eating, 
partly,  for  the  pleasure  of  it,  WHAT 
SENSE  is  there  in  throwing  away  a 
morsel  until  the  taste  has  been  extracted  ? 

If  "  dirt "  is  "  matter  out  of  place," 
which  is  the  accepted  definition, 
WHAT  SENSE  is  there  in  calling 
unnutritious  food  by  any  other  name  ? 

If  taste  is  the  evidence  of  nutrition, 
and  ceases  to  act  upon  dirt,  WHAT 
SENSE  is  there  in  hurrying  food  past 
the  sentry-box  of  Taste  without  giving 
the  inspector  time  to  select  the  nutri- 
tion and  reject  the  dirt? 

If  the  last  flash  of  taste  in  dealing 
with  a  morsel  of  food  is  the  best  of  all, 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    197 

WHAT  SENSE  in  believing  that 
Nature  did  not  furnish  that  allurement 
for  the  wise  purpose  of  inducing  masti- 
cation to  the  end  of  taste  ? 

If  saliva  is  the  medium  of  Taste, 
without  which  there  is  no  expression  of 
taste,  WHAT  SENSE  is  there  in 
thinking  that  it  is  nothing  but  a  lu- 
bricant, to  enable  food  to  be  easily 
swallowed  ? 

WHAT  SENSE  is  there  in  slight- 
ing nutrition  in  the  beginning  when  we 
know  that  the  derangement  of  the  proc- 
ess will  continue  throughout  all  the 
involuntary  stages  within  the  digestive 
organs,  inviting  disease  and  causing 
suffering  ? 

THERE  IS  SENSE  in  carefully 
attending  to  the  voluntary  preparation 
of  the  food  for  the  stomach,  so  that  the 
involuntary  functions  of  digestion  and 
of  assimilation  may  be  performed  with 
natural  ease  and  freedom,  thereby  defy- 
ing and  preventing  disease ! 

If  we  can  save  two-thirds  of  present 


198    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

consumption  and  yet  furnish  all  that  is 
necessary  for  perfect  nutrition,  WHAT 
SENSE  is  there  in  wearing  out  our 
Mind-Power  Plant  with  a  glut  of 
surplus  ? 

Unless  a  person  has  a  pressing  en- 
gagement with  his  own  funeral,  WHAT 
SENSE  is  there  in  hurrying  with  his 
meals  ? 

If  we  can  devote  ten  thousand  actions 
of  the  jaw,  daily,  to  senseless  or  vicious 
gossip,  WHAT  SENSE  is  there  in 
denying  adequate  jaw  service  to  the 
most  important  function  of  living  ? 

WHAT  SENSE  is  there  in  a  rich 
person  glutting  his  Mind-Power  Plant 
with  more  food-fuel  than  it  needs,  just 
because  he  happens  to  have  an  abun- 
dance to  glut  with,  or  glut  on  ? 

WHAT  SENSE  is  there  in  calling 
any  glutton  "  a  gentleman  "  ? 

WHAT  SENSE  is  there  in  calling 
any  glutton  "  a  lady  "  ? 

If  what  Taste  rejects,  after  having 
selected  nutriment  out  of  a  morsel  of 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    199 

food  is  dirt,  WHAT  SENSE  is  there 
in  allowing  it  to  contaminate  and  bur- 
den the  delicate  organs  of  digestion  ? 

An  indigestible  morsel  of  food  is  like 
a  runaway  team  in  a  crowded  street. 
WHAT  SENSE  is  there,  then,  in  de- 
moralising things  in  the  thoroughfare 
of  our  life  organism  by  admitting  unruly 
substance  ? 

An  indigestible  morsel  of  food  in  the 
stomach,  and  all  the  way  through  the 
intestines,  is  like  a  "bull  in  a  china 
shop."  WHAT  SENSE  is  there, 
then,  in  smashing  the  delicate  utensils 
in  the  laboratory  of  our  Mind-Power 
Plant  by  rushing  "  bulls  "  past  Sentinel 
Taste  ? 


A    SCIENTIFIC    POINT 

Physiological  Chemistry  declares  that 
an  important  function  of  saliva  is  turn- 
ing the  starch  of  foods  into  dextrose  — 
sugar  —  which  is  one  of  the  high  forms 
of  nutrition. 


200    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

An  eminent  physiological  chemist, 
who  is  a  friend  of  the  author,  and  who 
has  been  experimenting  with  the  sug- 
gestions offered  by  the  discovery  of 
new  uses  for  Taste  in  securing  perfect 
economic  nutrition,  says  that  the  inex- 
pressibly sweet  flavour  which  comes 
with  the  last  expression  of  Taste  in 
connection  with  a  morsel  of  food,  es- 
pecially dry  breads,  which  are  largely 
starch,  is  evidence  of  perfect  conversion 
of  the  starch  to  sugar  by  the  action  of 
the  saliva. 

The  sweet  taste  spoken  of  begins  to 
be  apparent  in  dry  French  bread  after 
about  twenty  movements  of  the  mouth, 
and  increases  until  the  whole  morsel  is 
dissolved  and  disappears  into  the  stom- 
ach, leaving  behind  it  a  most  delicious 
after-flavour.  According  to  the  quantity 
in  the  mouthful  this  process  will  take 
from  fifty  to  one  hundred  movements 
of  the  mouth  and  require  from  half  a 
minute  to  one  minute. 

In  this  connection  remember,  please, 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    2OI 

that  if  you  bolt  a  whole  slice,  or  a  whole 
loaf  of  bread  in  the  meantime,  as  soon 
as  it  is  wet  enough  to  swallow,  you  will 
get  little,  if  any,  more  nutriment  out  of 
it,  and  none  of  the  exquisite  taste  that 
Nature's  way  offers  as  an  allurement  for 
obeying  her  beneficent  demands.  The 
way  of  Nature  is  the  epicurean  way ; 
the  other  way  is  nothing  less  than  pig- 
gish gluttony. 

Even  if  time  for  eating  is  limited, 
nothing  is  gained  by  bolting  food. 
Thirty  mouthfuls  of  bread  thoroughly 
dissolved  in  the  mouth  will  supply  nu- 
triment for  a  strong  man  for  twenty-four 
hours,  and  the  eating  of  it  in  the  way 
recommended  will  give  pleasure  un- 
known in  hurry. 

My  physiological  chemist  friend  as- 
sures me  that  I  am  right  in  asserting 
that  man  should  not  drink  anything  but 
pure  water,  and  that  for  the  purpose  of 
quenching  thirst.  If  anything  is  good 
enough  to  drink  at  all  it  is  too  good  to 
waste  on  an  unwilling  stomach  when 


202    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

grateful  and  hungry  taste-buds  are  eager 
for  it. 

Don't  drink  soup !  Don't  drink  milk  ! 
Don't  drink  beer!  Don't  drink  wine! 
Don't  drink  syruped  sodas  for  the  taste 
of  the  syrups !  Sip  everything  that  has 
taste  so  that  Taste  can  inspect  it  and 
get  the  good  out  of  it  for  you ! 

TASTE'S  APPEAL 

Water  has  no  taste,  therefore,  Taste 
does  not  call  it  to  a  halt,  but  says,  "  Go 
right  on  and  do  your  work,  there  is 
nothing  in  you  that  I  can  improve ; 
thank  you  for  giving  me  a  freshening 
up  in  passing.  If  people  only  knew 
what  you  and  I  know  they  would  be 
wiser,  would  n't  they?  They  would 
learn  a  thing  or  two  about  keeping  their 
Mind-Power  Plant  in  fine  order  and  get 
rid  of  all  their  physical  ailments,  and  be 
strong  and  happy,  and  live  to  be  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  of  age  with  their 
faculties  unimpaired.  I  say !  you  are  on 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    203 

the  outside  and  can  give  people  a  hint ; 
why  don't  you  tell  them  what  I  am  here 
for !  They  set  me  down  for  a  '  capper,' 
like  one  of  those  fellows  that  stand  out- 
side of  cheap  restaurants  and  invite  pas- 
sers to  come  in  and  eat.  They  don't 
know  I  am  an  expert  in  nutriment  and 
can  protect  them  from  any  harm  in  eat- 
ing. I  offer  them  also  a  first-class  bonbon 
taste,  at  the  finish  of  my  work  to  induce 
them  to  stay  by  and  help  me  to  do 
proper  work,  but  they  are  all  in  such  a 
blamed  hurry  that  they  never  wait  for 
the  bonbon,  and  the  result  is  that  loads  of 
dirt  and  indigestible  stuff  get  by  me  and 
make  endless  mischief  in  the  machine. 
I  hear  about  it  often  enough  you  may 
be  sure.  All  the  sewer  gas  the  indiges- 
tion produces  comes  back  this  way,  spoils 
my  comfort,  and  dulls  my  strength.  You 
see,  you  can  have  a  chance,  perhaps,  to 
learn  for  yourself  and  tell  the  people 
what  I  can  do  for  them.  I  'm  lodged  in 
here  in  the  dark  where  they  can't  see  me 
and  I  have  no  means  of  informing  them. 


204    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

"  I  wonder  why  it  is  that  Mother 
Nature  makes  such  a  mystery  of  her 
blessings.  She  never  advertises  and 
never  exhibits  her  best  things  plainly. 
All  her  precious  metals  are  hidden  away 
in  narrow  seams  in  the  ground ;  her 
pearls  are  guarded  by  close-mouthed 
oysters  at  the  bottom  of  the  ocean ; 
electricity  is  as  slippery  as  an  eel  and 
absolutely  invisible ;  in  fact,  Nature  is 
the  most  retiring,  in  her  habits,  of  all 
the  expressions  of  Deity;  and,  consist- 
ent with  herself,  she  has  put  me  in  here, 
in  the  dark  and  speechless,  provided 
with  powers  of  selection  and  discrimina- 
tion, which,  if  understood  and  made 
thorough  use  of,  will  do  for  man  all  that 
he  can  desire. 

"  The  funny  part  of  it  is  that  the  ani- 
mals, other  than  man,  use  me  instinc- 
tively and  live  their  appointed  time; 
while  man,  in  his  usual  big-headed  way, 
centuries  and  centuries  ago,  gave  me  the 
lowest  place  among  the  Senses,  classed 
my  chief  agent  and  assistant,  Saliva,  as 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    205 

merely  a  c  pusher '  of  food  into  the  stom- 
ach, and  ever  since  he  has  been  in  too 
much  of  a  hurry  to  live  quick  to  take 
the  time  to  live  long;  and  that 's  what 's 
the  matter  with  the  world."1 

1  Thus  ended  the  first  edition ;  but  in  the  revision 
its  position  has  been  changed. 


206    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

IMPORTANT   CONFIRMATION 
COMMANDANTE  CESARE  AGNELLI 

Commandante  Cesare  Agnelli,  of  His 
Italian  Majesty's  battle-ship,  "  Gari- 
baldi," has  been  an  earnest  colleague  of 
the  authors  in  the  Nutrition  Study  since 
the  summer  of  1900.  Like  the  authors, 
he  received  in  the  course  of  experimenta- 
tion such  personal  benefits  that  the  con- 
tinued observations  have  been  a  source 
of  great  pleasure  ever  since.  I  take 
from  a  letter,  dated  Taranto,  Italy,  some 
excerpts  that  are  good  evidence  of  the 
caprice  of  appetite  under  different  cli- 
matic conditions  together  with  some 
irrelevant  matter,  quoted  for  its  good 
reading :  — 

"  What  a  good,  long,  friendly  letter ! 
If  it  was  your  intention  to  spoil  me,  it 
certainly  proved  a  success ;  and  I  feel 
so  much  obliged  and  thank  you  so 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    207 

much  for  the  interesting  description  of 
all  you  saw  and  did  during  your  absence 
from  Venice  this  summer. 

"You  are  too  good  in  remembering 

O  O 

the  few  words  of  encouragement  I  said 
to  you  when  you  first  spoke  to  me 
about  your  experiments.  The  fact  is 
that  I  have  always  regretted  that  my 
assistance  in  the  experiments  could  not 
be  of  greater  service ;  and,  really,  of  us 
two  I  am  the  indebted  for  gratitude  for 
the  great  service  your  discovery  has 
done  to  me  since  the  lucky  day  I  had 
the  pleasure  of  your  acquaintance. 

"  My  bad  luck  would  not  have  it  to 
allow  my  ship  to  go  to  England  for  the 
Coronation,  though  at  first  she  was  se- 
lected to  be  one  of  the  three.  Only  two 
days  ago  I  met  one  of  our  officers  who  was 
on  the  '  Carlo  Alberto,' and  he  confirmed 
all  that  you  wrote  and  all  that  has  been 
printed  about  the  magnificence  of  the 
naval  review  at  Spithead. 

"  I  wish  now  that  I  were  with  you,  to 
be  able  to  talk  about  what  happened  to 


208    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

me  during  this  last  cruise  of  ours,  in 
relation  to  observations  of  nutrition.  I 
can  only  report  facts  and  feelings,  and 
you  may  be  able  to  connect  them  and 
assign  the  causes.  You  know  I  do  not 
usually  drink  wine,  only  water;  well,  on 
the  coast  of  Africa  I  had  such  a  distaste 
for  the  latter  that  I  was  compelled  to 
take  beer  to  quench  thirst,  nor  could  I 
even  endure  mineral  waters.  My  desire 
for  food  was  quite  changed,  my  physi- 
ological craving  dictating  to  me  quite 
plainly,  as  in  a  doctor's  prescription, 
what  I  wanted.  Even  the  best  fish  in 
the  Mediterranean  did  not  satisfy  me. 
To-day  it  was  eggs  and  to-morrow  it 
was  cocoa,  but  never  meat  that  I  felt  the 
wish  for.  But  what  is  a  new  caprice  of 
desire  relates  to  my  smoking.  I  could 
not  smoke  a  single  pipe  nor  a  cigar;  only 
could  I  tolerate  cigarettes,  and  those  quite 
without  pleasure.  At  Smyrna  I  almost 
fed  on  ices  and  lemonades,  but  always 
and  ever  I  could  eat  (not  drink)  my  cup 
of  cocoa  in  the  morning.  The  heat  on 


.    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    209 

the  coast  of  Africa  at  Tripoli  and  Ben 
Ghari  was  intense,  1 08°  and  110°  Fah- 
renheit, with  perspiration  in  proportion. 

"So  it  seems  to  me  that  appetite  is 
changed  to  suit  latitude  or  climatic 
conditions,  and  all  that  we  call  our 
exotic  pleasures  of  appetite,  such  as 
smoking,  etc.,  are  dependent  on  our 
nutrition.  Anyhow,  even  in  the  hottest 
days,  my  strength  never  gave  way,  and 
I  never  felt  that  lassitude  and  general 
unfitness  for  work  that  was  my  com- 
panion in  past  years  in  hot  climates,  as 
in  the  West  Indies  in  '86  and  '87. 

"  I  never  miss  an  opportunity  to 
spread  the  virtues  of  mastication,  but 
most  people  are  too  indifferent  to  apply 
the  practice  long  enough  to  get  the  habit 
established  as  we  have  acquired  it. 

"  The  first  part  of  our  cruise  brought 
a  great  deal  of  suffering  to  those  who 
are  not  assisted  by  a  proper  discrimina- 
tion in  nutrition.  There  was  a  scant 
supply  of  good  food,  and  the  bad  food 
was  very  bad.  I  managed  to  get  the 
14 


210    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

best  out  of  it  with  the  assistance  of 
my  curious  appetite,  and  did  not  suffer 
inconvenience  as  did  the  others.  But 
we  were  largely  rewarded  in  Turkish 
Asia,  —  a  really  blessed  part  of  the 
world,  —  and  especially  at  Smyrna.  My 
day  began  in  the  bazaar  and  ended 
there,  my  eyes  enjoying  Turkish  and 
Persian  art  in  all  their  manifestations, 
from  the  rich  Bokhara  and  Khorassan 
carpets  to  the  Damaseo  inlaid  works, 
Rhodes  embroideries,  and  so  on.  One 
sees  that  art  has  come  from  the  East, 
and  in  every  branch  of  it  the  influence 
of  the  meridian  is  always  discovered 
and  perceived.  My  great  regret  was 
not  to  be  able  to  take  it  all  away  with 
me  to  Venice  and  divide  it  with  my 
esteemed  friends  there  for  our  mu- 
tual enjoyment.  Curiously  enough,  at 
Smyrna  I  found  a  good  bit  of  Italian 
pottery  that  I  secured  for  almost  noth- 
ing. It  would  have  been  a  great  thing 
if  you  could  have  been  there  to  pass 
those  ten  days  in  Smyrna  with  me. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    2 1 1 

"  I  gave  an  order  for  some  carpets 
to  be  made  on  measure,  but  it  will  take 
months  to  have  them  ready.  Many 
people  do  not  appreciate  the  old  car- 
pets, but  to  my  taste  modern  ones  do 
not  have  the  velvety  look  or  the  sou- 
plesse  and  the  softness  of  the  old  ones. 

"  I  am  sorry  circumstances  prevented 
my  filling  your  commission.  Had  Dr. 
Van  Someren  been  there,  he  is  so  fond 
of  old  things,  I  am  sure  he  would  have 
ruined  himself. 

"  It  seems  as  if  we  would  remain  here 
the  whole  of  this  month,  and  then  I 
hope  for  a  fortnight's  leave  to  go  to 
Venice ;  and  I  look  forward  to  the 
pleasure  of  a  long  chat  together. 

(Signed}          "  C.  AGNELLI." 

CLARENCE   F.   LOW,   ESQUIRE 

THE    VEGETARIAN    TENDENCY    CONFIRMED 

The  relator  of  the  following  experi- 
ence was  conversant  with  the  early  re- 
searches of  the  elder  author  and  gave 


212    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

mastication  a  trial  for  a  time.  He  gave 
it  too  painful  attention,  as  is  apt  to  be 
the  case  with  beginners,  and  the  strain 
made  the  practice'  tedious  and  undoubt- 
edly inhibited  the  secretion  of  the  digest- 
ive juices,  the  same  as  worry  and  other 
distractions  are  known  to  do.  After  a 
very  short  trial  Mr.  Low  declared  that 
he  could  not  get  enough  nourishment 
within  reasonable  time  and  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  much  chewing  did  not 
agree  with  him  although  it  might  with 
others.  With  the  issue  of  the  reports 
of  the  Cambridge  and  Yale  tests,  how- 
ever, the  suggestion  was  given  another 
trial,  with  the  result,  up  to  date,  as  re- 
ported below: 

"  I  thank  you  very  much  for  the  copy 
of  Dr.  Kellogg's  book,  the  '  Living  Tem- 
ple,' just  received.  I  have  not  had  time 
to  read  it,  but  in  looking  over  the  chap- 
ter headings  and  knowing  Dr.  Kellogg's 
worth  as  an  authority  on  matters  of 
foods  and  diet  I  know  that  there  is  much 
of  value  for  me  in  the  book.  I  am  much 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    213 

interested  in  that  '  Chewing  Song '  that 
has  been  dedicated  to  you  by  Dr.  Kellogg 
and  think  the  idea  an  excellent  one. 

"  I  have  for  some  time  been  chewing 
a  la  Fletcher  and  find  it  of  great  advan- 
tage. It  is  getting  to  be  automatic  and 
is  losing  its  irksomeness.  Indeed  it 
already  seems  natural  and  produces  some 
results  not  '  set  down  in  the  book.'  For 
instance,  I  have  no  desire  for  meats  and 
foods  which  do  not  lend  themselves  to 
the  Fletcher  method.  This  in  itself  is  a 
great  advantage.. 

"  By  the  way,  I  have  not  eaten  meat 
since  the  2oth  of  last  October  (nearly  a 
year),  and  I  find  I  have  gained  greatly. 
I  only  desire  two  meals  a  day  except 
when  the  exigencies  of  travel  make  a 
light  breakfast  agreeable  and  desirable. 
By  these  means  I  have  gained  nerve 
force  wonderfully  and  my  muscular 
strength  and  endurance  have  increased 
so  that  I  walk  long  distances  and  climb 
mountains  easily.  In  fact,  I  do  now  with 
pleasure  and  avidity  what  I  could  not 


214    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

formerly  do  at  all.  They  are  the  sort  of 
things  that  are  supposed  to  require  a 
'  strong  meat  diet '  but  which  under  such 
a  diet  were  impossible  to  me.  Masti- 
cation and  thorough  mouth-treatment 
seem  to  allow  the  appetite  to  prescribe 
what  my  body  needs  and  this  is  the 
essence  and  substance  of  your  discovery. 
It  pleases  me  very  much  that  Drs. 
Kellogg  and  Dewey  have  confirmed 
your  researches  and  find  that  your  claims 
are  not  over-drawn.  They  have  such 
splendid  opportunities  to  test  things 
dietetic  and  are  such  open-minded,  nat- 
ural-born altruists  that  their  confirma- 
tion counts  for  even  more  than  that  of 
the  very  conservative  men  in  Science 
who  stand  for  scientific  authority  and 
who  want  a  thing  thrice  proven  before 
they  give  it  endorsement. 

"  I  think  my  experience  will  be  es- 
pecially comforting  to  you  because  of 
my  repeated  trials  and  lapses.  I  can 
see  now  how  important  it  is  for  one  to 
practise  careful  mouth-treatment  until 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    215 

the  habit  is  acquired  and  the  perform- 
ance becomes  automatic.  There  is  no 
doubt  in  my  mind  but  what  there  is  a 
natural  protection  given  us  by  nature 
which  has  been  lost  by  perversion.  I 
feel  confident  that  you  will  get  ulti- 
mate credit  for  the  re-establishment  of 
a  rational  habit  of  eating  which,  under 
normal  conditions  of  food  supply,  is  a 
protector  against  premature  swallowing 
of  food. 

"  G has   seen  the  result   in  me 

and  he  is  dropping  meat  to  a  great  ex- 
tent and  his  breakfasts  have  dwindled 
to  a  mere  fraction  of  what  they  formerly 
were.  The  same  is  true  of  M ." 


A  FIVE   YEARS'    LAY   EXPERIENCE 

The  good  fortune  of  yesterday, 
July  29,  1903,  brought  a  telephone 
message  from  an  old  and  very  dear 
friend  who  has  been  impressed  with  the 
virtues  of  buccal  digestion  for  the  past 


2l6    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

five  years.  Five  years  ago  my  friend 
was  a  sick  man,  past  fifty  years  of  age. 
During  his  youth  and  early  manhood 
he  had  been  an  optimist  among  opti- 
mists, leading  a  congenial  life  among 
agreeable  friends,  with  the  best  the 
world  had  to  offer  in  the  way  of  recrea- 
tion and  fare.  His  great  misfortune 
at  the  time  was  indigestion  and  the 
troubles  that  accompany  indigestion. 
If  he  drank  a  small  cup  of  coffee  at 
night  he  could  not  sleep,  and  he  was 
subject  to  the  constant  uncertainty  of 
health  and  frequent  recurrence  of  acute 
diseases  that  are  common  to  the  victims 
of  luxury. 

The  very  ill-health  emergency  and 
dilemma  of  my  friend  led  him  to  catch 
at  any  stray  straw  of  hope  or  comfort. 
When  we  met,  some  months  after  the 
beginning  of  my  experiments,  he  was 
compelled  to  note  a  great  difference  in 
my  appearance;  the  portly  and  robust 
but  heavy,  short-winded  and  unwieldy 
friend  of  bygone  years  in  sumptuous 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    217 

New  Orleans  had  become  "  spare  "  and 
active,  and  told  of  improvement  in  health- 
conditions  that  seemed  almost  miracu- 
lous. The  still-suffering  friend  was 
interested  to  the  point  of  listening  and 
trying  the  remedy.  Half  as  a  joke  and 
half  in  earnest  the  regimen  recom- 
mended by  me  was  adopted  and  carried 
forward  far  enough  to  secure  some 
noticeable  good  results.  Following  up 
these  favourable  results  with  continu- 
ance of  the  regimen  brought  pro- 
gressive improvement  of  health  and 
increasing  conviction  of  the  merits  of 
thorough  buccal  digestion. 

The  evidence  of  physical  improve- 
ment resulting  from  five  years'  attention 
to  buccal  thoroughness  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  an  adventurous  life  is  here 
given  briefly  from  memory  fresh  from 
the  telling : 

"You  remember  the  state  of  health 
I  was  in  when  we  met  here  in  the 
Waldorf  five  years  ago.  The  benefit 
of  the  recovery  that  I  had  secured  at 


2l8    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

Sierra  Blanca  had  been  gradually  lost, 
and  I  was  pretty  well  down  to  my  last 
legs  again.  If  I  had  n't  been  struck  by 
the  marvellous  alteration  in  your  appear- 
ance from  what  it  was  when  I  had  seen 
you  last,  I  should  have  been  terribly 
bored  by  your  relation  of  your  experi- 
ence, for  I  was  sick  to  death  of  mention 
of  cures  and  diet-regimens  of  all  sorts. 
But  you  astonished  me  so  by  your 
changed  appearance,  and  I  was  in  such 
a  hopeless  condition,  that  I  thought  I 
would  give  your  scheme  a  trial.  Next 
day,  my  breakfast,  which  was  also  my 
lunch,  for  I  was  feeling  too  badly  to  get 
up  earlier,  brought  me  some  sweet  corn 
as  one  of  the  several  items  I  habitually 
ordered.  In  giving  this  corn  thorough 
chewing  before  swallowing  I  noticed 
that,  while  the  inside  of  the  corn  liquefied 
readily  and  was  quickly  swallowed,  there 
remained  in  my  mouth  a  collection  of 
the  hulls,  and  these  invited  the  bad 
table-manners  of  'spitting  out.'  I  re- 
moved this  collection  of  refuse  as  deli- 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    219 

cately  as  possible,  and,  on  examination, 
found  that  it  consisted  of  hard  substance 
that  I  had  never  noticed  before  in  con- 
nection with  cooked  sweet  corn.  This 
set  me  to  thinking.  What  had  I  not 
been  putting  into  my  stomach  all  these 
years  in  my  ignorance  of  the  constitu- 
ents of  this  one  kind  of  common  food, 
and  what  not  in  other  foods  that  I  had 
not  yet  observed  ? 

"  In  continuing  the  observation 
further,  I  discovered  that  many  of  the 
foods  that  I  was  accustomed  to  take 
contained  hard,  insoluble  ingredients  or 
cottony  fibre  that  got  more  and  more 
cottony  and  refractory  with  mastication. 
In  trying  coffee,  my  favourite  beverage, 
as  you  told  me  I  might  do  if  I  handled 
it  rightly  in  the  mouth,  I  tasted  it  until 
it  was  absorbed  or  swallowed  involun- 
tarily just  as  you  told  me  the  expert 
wine-tasters  and  tea-tasters  do.  I 
sipped  and  enjoyed  my  small  cup  of 
coffee  as  I  had  never  done  before  in  my 
life,  and  knew  afterwards  that  it  had  not 


220    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

hurt  me  as  usual,  as  no  immediate  pro- 
test came  from  the  stomach,  which 
formerly  had  been  the  case.  I  slept  the 
'sleep  of  the  just'  that  night,  and  awoke 
in  fine  form  next  morning.  From  that 
day  to  this  I  have  not  been  troubled 
with  indigestion,  and  during  these  five 
years  I  have  not  been  sick  a  day  or  an 
hour  or  a  moment,  and  have  slept  like 
a  babe.  I  have  n't  kept  my  weight  quite 
down  where  it  ought  to  be  for  best  com- 
fort, but  I  have  supported  the  burden 
with  my  general  good  health  and  di- 
gestion. My  temptations  to  lapse  have 
been  enormous,  for  I  have  had  the  good 
fare  of  two  continents  thrown  at  me  by 
most  enticing  invitation,  and  I  have 
run  the  gantlet  of  extraordinary  menus 
without  phasing,  with  the  results  I  have 
recounted. 

"  Do  you  remember  the  day  of  the 
public  funeral  of  General  Grant,  when 
his  tomb  on  the  Riverside  Drive  — 
Morningside  Heights  —  was  dedicated? 
You  remember  that  we  had  been  invited 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    221 

to  Mr.   H 's  to  witness    the  parade 

and  take  lunch  ?  How  we  were  caught 
on  the  wrong  side  of  the  procession  on 
Fifth  Avenue  and  were  hurrying  to  get 
ahead  of  the  column  and  across  to  the 
other  side  of  the  Avenue  ?  Well !  do 
you  remember  how  we  puffed  and 
blowed  when  we  had  run  a  couple  of 
blocks  and  how  we  were  red  in  the  face 
and  nearly  knocked  up  ?  We  were  both 
fat  then  and  short-winded,  and  we  never 
would  have  been  able  to  get  to  our 
destination  if  I  had  not  hypnotised  a 
policeman  and  persuaded  him  to  lead 
us  across  the  Avenue  like  a  pair  of 
emergency  hospital  cases  or  disorderly 
arrests. 

"  Since  then  you  have  had  your 
experience  of  recovery  as  the  result 
of  your  deliberate  experiment  made  for 
a  purpose,  and  I  have  had  mine  as 
the  result  of  noting  the  improvement 
in  you,  and  for  all  of  which  I  owe 
you  my  life,  whatever  that  may  be 
worth. 


222    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

"  At  the  time  of  the  great  Naval  Re- 
view, or  something  of  the  sort  —  I  have 
forgotten  what  — a  party  of  us  went  to 
the  pier  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Com- 
pany to  see  the  show.  There  were  Ned 

H ,  and    Captain    H ,   and    two 

other  men,  and  myself,  with  four  ladies. 
On  coming  up  town  we  were  booked 
for  another  engagement,  the  time  for 
which  had  not  yet  arrived.  We  were  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  Hoffman  House  and 
drifted  in  there  and  into  the  ball-room. 
The  floor  was  most  tempting  and  the 
orchestrion  willing.  It  was  too  sugges- 
tive a  combination  for  the  ladies,  who 
were  young  and  fine  dancers,  and  they 
exclaimed  with  one  voice,  '  Oh,  how 
lovely !  I  wish  we  might  dance.'  It 
proved  that  I  was  the  only  dancing-man 
among  the  men.  I  had  been  a  dancer 
in  my  younger  days,  but  I  had  let  up 
on  it  since  I  had  become  stout.  How- 
ever, by  way  of  a  joke  and  to  please  the 
young  ladies,  I  offered  to  be  a  partner. 
My  offer  was  accepted,  also  as  a  joke, 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    223 

but  the  sequel  was  a  surprise.  We  set 
the  orchestrion  going  on  a  Waldteufel 
waltz,  and  I  grabbed  one  of  the  young 
ladies  for  a  round.  Really,  I  was 
amazed.  I  danced  as  easily  as  I  did 
when  a  youngster,  and  round  and  round 
we  went.  Finally,  my  partner  begged 
for  a  rest,  so  I  waltzed  her  to  a  seat, 
and,  excited  with  the  revelation  of  an 
endurance  I  did  not  know  I  possessed, 
I  grabbed  the  next  lady  from  her  seat 
and  repeated  the  tiring-out  process  as 
easily  as  in  the  first  attempt.  There 
were  yet  two  ladies  fresh  and  eager  to 
assist  in  '  doing  Uncle  Nat  up,'  and  I 
repeated  the  performance  with  them, 
also,  dancing  the  last  to  a  dead  stand- 
still on  account  of  her  determined  obsti- 
nacy. She  had  to  complete  the  '  doing 
up '  of  the  old  man,  or  Age  would  win 
a  battle  from  Youth,  which  would  never 
do.  Well,  to  make  a  long  story  short, 
and  to  get  to  the  illustration.  I  was 
warm  and  ruddy,  but  I  was  less  fatigued 
than  I  remember  to  have  been  as  a 


youngster  when  I  had  danced  for  a  long 
time. 

"  Since  then  I  have  not  balked  at  any 
feat  of  physical  endurance,  and  I  feel 
as  young  to-day  as  my  white  hair  will 
let  me.  I  have  tried  to  get  my  friends 
to  chewing  their  food  persistently,  and 
have  gained  many  adherents  to  your 
cause,  but  I  have  had  to  stand  an  im- 
mense amount  of  chaffing  meanwhile. 

I  tried  to  get   Mr.   H to  chew  his 

bread  and  milk,  but  he  always  laughed 
at  me,  and  chaffed  me  constantly 
when  I  was  with  him  about  my  chew- 
ing fad.  One  man,  whom  I  saw  much 
of,  and  who  needed  your  advice  more 
than  anybody  else,  got  so  sick  of  the 
subject  that  when  I  received  a  letter 
from  you,  telling  of  some  new  discovery 
and  some  new  triumph  of  the  cause  of 
chewing,  I  would  attempt  to  read  it  to 
him  ;  but  he  would  not  listen,  and  per- 
sisted in  calling  it  rot,  although  he 
knew  that  I  had  become  a  remarkably 
well  man,  whereas  I  was  formerly  a  very 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    225 

sick  man.  Both  of  these  scoffers  have 
gone  and  I  am  left,  as  chipper  and 
as  fit  as  a  fiddle  new-strung  for  the 
music  of  a  happy  life.  If  we  don't 
catch  up  with  Luigi  Cornaro  on  our 
record  it  will  not  be  for  want  of  good 
digestion." 

This  is  a  little  bit  of  intimacy  that 
the  good  Baron  Randolph  Natili  will 
not  object  to  offer  in  evidence  in  our 
cause  ;  for  no  one  living  has  a  heart  and 
a  will  to  do  a  favour  or  spread  a  benefit 
more  than  he.  Only  yesterday  he  said, 
in  a  burst  of  enthusiasm, "  How  is  it  pos- 
sible for  me  to  dislike  any  one,  feeling 
the  way  I  do  ?  I  have  likes  immensely 
stronger  than  other  likes  on  account 
of  similar  or  closer  sympathies,  but  it 
seems  to  me  now  that  to  really  dislike 
any  one  that  the  Creator  has  made, 
or  anything  that  he  has  created,  would 
do  violence  to  the  Memory  of  My 
Mother." 


15 


226    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 


DR.  HIGGINS'  CASE  AND  COMMENT 

"DEAR  MR.  FLETCHER: 

"  You  ask  me  to  write  you  a  short 
account  of  my  experiences  with  economi- 
cal nutrition  with  comments,  and  a  few 
words  about  my  physical  and  mental 
history. 

"Previous  History: --The  best  pe- 
riod of  health  that  I  can  remember  in 
my  life  was  that  between  seventeen  and 
twenty-one,  during  the  time  I  was  pre- 
paring for  the  medical  profession.  I 
had  a  small  breakfast  at  about  7.30  A.M. 
and  then  went  up  to  London  to  St. 
George's  Hospital,  which  was  about 
fourteen  miles  from  my  home.  My 
parents  gave  me  2/6  for  my  midday 
meal  but  I  fortunately  economised  and 
only  spent  6d-iod  of  it  on  food.  After 
finishing  my  work  I  usually  arrived 
home  at  5.30  and  had  a  'meat  tea'; 
this  allowed  me  to  devote  six  hours  to 
reading.  During  the  whole  of  this 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    227 

period  I  was  in  excellent  mental  and 
physical  condition.  I  was  made  house 
surgeon  at  twenty-one,  obtained  my  de- 
gree in  under  four  years  besides  obtain- 
ing several  valuable  prizes. 

"After  this  I  lived  in  the  Hospital 
where  three  meat  meals  were  provided. 
These  I  conscientiously  ate  *  to  keep  up 
my  strength'  during  the  performance 
of  my  exhausting  duties.  I  consider 
that  this  period  was  the  commencement 
of  my  degeneration.  I  put  on  twenty- 
four  pounds  in  weight  and  lost  much  of 
my  mental  energy. 

"To  condense,  as  much  as  possible: 
my  strong  hereditary  tendency  to  gout 
with  the  excessive  meat  eating,  the 
hurried  eating  during  some  three  and 
one-half  years  at  St.  George's  Hos- 
pital, London,  and  at  Addenbrooke's 
Hospital,  Cambridge,  resulted  in  con- 
stant suffering  from  headache,  lum- 
bago, rheumatic  pains,  and  all  those 
distressing  symptoms  known  under  the 
generic  name  of  '  goutiness.'  After 


228    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

seven  or  eight  years  I  weighed  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty-four  pounds  and  com- 
plained of  increasing  symptoms  of  gout. 

I  then  became  a  patient  of  Dr.  H , 

of  London,  whose  system  requires  one  to 
abstain  from  meat,  fish,  poultry,  beans, 
tea,  coffee,  in  other  words,  from  foods 
containing  uric  acid  or  its  equivalent. 
For  about  five  years,  till  the  end  of  1901, 
when  I  first  met  you,  I  fluctuated  con- 
siderably in  health,  on  the  whole  I  am 
bound  to  say,  in  a  steadily  downward 
direction,  till  I  was  overloaded  with  the 
excessive  weight  of  two  hundred  and 
eighty-two  pounds. 

"  History  of  Period  of  Regeneration : 
—  I  commenced  under  your  advice,  mas- 
ticating my  food  thoroughly  at  the  end 
of  December,  1901.  After  practising 
this  method  till  the  present  date  Sep- 
tember, 1903,  I  have  lost  one  hundred 
and  four  pounds  in  weight  and  consider 
that  I  have  gained  very  considerably 
in  mental  and  physical  fitness.  I  pre- 
fer to  divide  this  period  into  two  parts : 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    229 

r 
(a)  T/ie  first  eight  months.     During  this 

time  I  followed  my  appetite,  but  with  a 
strong  mental  bias  in  favour  of  keeping 
up  as  nearly  as  possible  to  the  daily 
1  physiological  ration '  of  nitrogenous 
food.  I  lost  notwithstanding  some 
sixty-four  pounds  in  weight  in  spite  of 
having  an  inordinate  appetite  for  butter, 
and  generally  taking  two  pints  of  milk 
daily.  During  this  period  I  undertook 
some  very  severe  work  in  the  Labora- 
tory of  Physiological  Chemistry,  with 
the  object  of  trying  to  devise  some 
method  of  measuring  the  extent  of  a 
person's  departure  from  their  optimum 
health.  This  led  almost  unconsciously 
to  a  stronger  mental  bias  in  favour  of 
prescribing  the  amount  of  food  one 
should  eat,  and  to  a  certain  number  of 
experiments  in  feeding.  Towards  the 
end  of  this  period  I  got  rather  exhausted 
in  consequence  of  my  severe  work  and 
complained  of  occasional  headaches. 
Following  the  suggestions  of  some 
friends  I  added  fifty  grams  of  casein  to 


230    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE  ' 

my  daily  diet  for  two  or  three  weeks. 
This  was  followed  by  a  return  of  rheu- 
matism and  considerable  sickness  and 
inability  to  work,  (b]  The  subsequent 
six  months.  I  resolved  to  devote  this 
period  to  a  careful  study  of  my  desires 
for  food  —  to  take  no  notes  —  to  make 
no  experiments  —  in  short,  to  allow  my 
body  to  run  itself,  and  to  try  to  make 
my  brain  interpret  the  wants  of  the 
body.  I  had  moved  for  the  purpose  of 
this  experiment  into  a  small  house,  with 
a  boy  and  a  woman  who  came  daily  to 
clean  the  house  —  (I  mention  these  de- 
tails because  practically  one  finds  that  a 
woman  has  usually  such  quick  sympathy 
about  matters  concerning  food,  that 
their  agitation  and  fears  are  enough  in 
themselves  to  cause  you  to  modify  your 
diet).  I  only  kept  bread,  butter,  and 
milk  in  the  house,  all  other  foods  I  was 
obliged  to  send  for,  and  if  I  required  a 
dish  to  be  cooked,  I  first  learned  how  to 
do  it  myself  and  then  taught  the  boy. 
I  had  no  fixed  times  for  meals,  and  did 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    231 

not  have  a  table  laid,  my  food  always 
being  brought  up  on  a  tray ;  usually  I 
did  not  interrupt  the  work  I  was  doing. 
I  deliberately  adopted  all  these  pre- 
cautions because  I  had  become  aware 
by  experience  of  the  extraordinary  in- 
fluence suggestion,  and  other  mind 
influences,  such  as  habit,  had  in  one's 
selection  of  food  and  the  amount  one 
ate.  During  the  first  two  months  in 
conscientiously  eating  what  I  wished, 
as  much  of  it  as  I  wanted  and  when  my 
appetite  demanded  food,  my  desires  were 
very  irregular,  ranging  over  meats  and 
fish,  (occasionally)  chocolate,  sweets, 
cream,  cheese,  butter,  milk,  bread,  pota- 
toes, oranges,  bananas,  sugar,  etc.,  but 
during  the  final  period  my  desires  were 
much  more  simple  and  regular,  confin- 
ing themselves  to  bread,  Gruyere  cheese, 
butter,  cream,  bananas,  potatoes,  occa- 
sionally milk.  During  and  subsequent 
to  this  period  I  have  become  convinced 
that  provided  you  eat  your  food  slowly 
and  follow  your  appetite,  without  guid- 


232    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

ance  from  any  other  knowledge  what- 
ever, one  gets  marked  preferences  for 
simple  foods  with  increasing  health  and 
happiness,  the  contentment  that  comes 
from  the  inestimably  valuable  possession 
of  simple  desires. 

"  Comments  on  the  System :  • —  The 
great  attraction  the  system  has  for  me 
is  its  frank  admission  that:  (i)  One 
knows  practically  nothing  of  those 
chemical  processes  that  occur  during 
digestion.  (2)  The  guidance  for  the 
conduct  of  life  afforded  by  such  vague 
phrases  as  '  the  collective  wisdom  of 
mankind'  leave  one  on  the  most  super- 
ficial examination  in  a  state  of  great 
doubt,  to  say  the  least  of  it.  (3)  The 
guidance  afforded  by  the  dogmas  of 
science  are  open  to  the  most  disquiet- 
ing criticism,  (a)  In  the  prescription 
of  method  without  a  knowledge  of  the 
mysteries  of  digestion.  (6)  In  those 
observations  on  insufficient  standards 
of  mental  and  physical  optimum  effi- 
ciency, and  of  short  periods  of  observa- 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    233 

tion  based  solely  on  nitrogenous  equilib- 
rium and  output  of  work  that  you  have 
already  shown  to  be  fallacious  and 
variable,  (c)  In  short,  that  one  can  say 
that  none  of  the  physiological  dogmas 
based  on  chemistry  are  not  open  to 
criticism. 

"  If  this  is  admitted,  and  the  choice 
of  the  quantity  and  quality  of  food 
thrown  on  taste  and  appetite,  we  are 
at  once  provided  with  a  natural  means 
of  ascertaining  the  body's  actual  wants 
from  day  to  day.  The  phenomena  that 
have  resulted  from  the  more  thorough 
insalivation  and  mastication  of  food  can 
only  be  described  as  remarkable  and  of 
the  highest  importance  for  the  progress 
of  that  most  important  of  all  sciences, 
the  right  conduct  of  life.  The  great 
advantage  of  finely  dividing  the  food  in 
the  mouth  so  as  to  present  as  large  a 
surface  as  possible  for  the  action  of  the 
intestinal  juices,  is  obvious  when  one 
reflects  on  the  rapidity  with  which  bac- 
teria can  and  do  act  on  pieces  having 


234    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

a  smaller  area  in  consequence  of  their 
larger  bulk.  When  one  reflects  that 
Dr.  Mott  attributes  the  main  cause 
of  insanity  to  the  absorption  by  the 
body  of  the  cleavage  products  pro- 
duced by  microbes  in  the  intestines, 
and  the  increasing  recognition  of  such 
poisons  in  the  causation  of  chronic 
disease  and  disturbances  of  health, 
this  factor  alone  would  afford  an  ex- 
planation of  some  of  the  phenomena 
induced  by  the  practice  of  economical 
nutrition. 

"  A  method  having  the  results  that 
this  has  it  need  scarcely  be  said  is  revolu- 
tionary ;  all  one's  preconceived  notions 
of  the  conduct  of  life  are  found  to 
be  based  on  grounds  open  to  grave 
criticism  and  it  throws  a  great  re- 
sponsibility on  all  those  concerned  in 
its  study  to  endeavour  by  all  the  means 
in  their  power  to  present  a  more 
completely  demonstrated  and  unan- 
swerable case  to  those  who  are  re- 
sponsible for  the  world's  guidance  in 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    235 

these    matters,    with   as  little  delay    as 
possible, 

"  Yours  faithfully, 

"  HUBERT  HIGGINS,  M.  A.  CANTAB. 
M.R.C.S.,  L.R.C.P. 

"Late  House  Surgeon  to  St.  George's  Hospital, 
London,  and  the  Addenbrooke's  Hospital,  Cam- 
bridge. Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  to  the  Uni- 
versity of  Cambridge  and  Assistant  Surgeon  to 
Addenbrooke's  Hospital." 


236    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 


QUARANTINE 

THE    NECESSITY    OF    PROTECTION 

NOTE  :  A  paper,  read  before  members  of  the  Unity 
League  and  other  guests  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  S. 
Harbert,  at  Tre-Brah,  Williams  Bay,  Geneva  Lake, 
Wisconsin,  in  August,  1898. 

It  is  pertinent  to  the  subject  of  this  book,  but  was 
written  when  the  investigations  described  herein  were 
just  beginning. 

Progress  of  Civilisation  is  accel- 
erated by  constantly  extending  systems 
of  individual,  moral,  social  and  sanitary 
quarantine. 

It  is  not  what  man  adds,  for  he  can 
add  nothing,  but  what  he  prevents,  that 
aids  growth. 

Man  creates  nothing,  but  he  assists 
Creation  by  removing  deterrents  to 
growth.  Growth  is  spontaneous,  con- 
stant and  ever  stronger  if  obstructions 
are  removed.  Creation  does  all  the 
growing,  but  cultivates  nothing;  the 
seed  falling  upon  good  soil  or  upon 


.   THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    237 

stony  waste  without  other  direction 
than  that  given  by  the  caprice  of  the 
winds. 

On  the  other  hand,  Man  is  the  only 
cultivator  in  Nature,  and  at  the  same 
time  he  can  add  nothing  to  growth  —  to 
Creation. 

Visible,  or  conscious,  growth  consists 
of  cell  building  or  thought  producing. 
Man  never  has  created  a  cell,  neither 
has  he  been  able  to  determine  the  origin 
of  a  thought;  yet,  he  is  a  necessary 
factor  in  evolution  and  a  prime  factor  in 
cultivation,  which  is  civilisation. 

Man  removes  deterrents  to  growth. 
Nature  "does  the  rest." 

Thought  and  cell  creation  are  spon- 
taneous and  are  never-ceasing  if  all  ob- 
structions are  removed  from  about  them. 
Civilised  man  places  a  quarantine  against 
the  enemies  of  growth,  of  progress,  and 
of  harmony,  and  thereby  promotes 
civilisation. 

Man  is,  therefore,  the  Chief  Assistant 
to  Creation,  the  Architect  of  Civilisation 


238    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE  ' 

and   a   Full   Partner  with    Nature    in 
Evolution. 

This  distinction,  adequately  appre- 
ciated, lifts  Man  above  the  animal  plane 
and  gives  him  a  place  among  the  gods ; 
his  material  form,  composed  of  muscle, 
hands,  powers  of  locomotion  and  speech, 
being  but  tools  with  which  to  harness 
and  cooperate  with  the  other  forces  in 
Nature,  under  the  direction  of  the  god- 
like attribute  of  the  Mind,  in  the  removal 
of  deterrents  to  free  growth,  and  the 
cultivation  of  that  Harmony  which  is 
the  symbol  of  God. 

*        #        # 

Having  assumed  as  an  hypothesis 
that  Man  is  Full  Partner  with  Nature 
in  Evolution ;  and  having  discovered 
his  proper  function  in  the  "  Division  of 
Labour  "  in  Nature,  it  is  time  for  each  of 
us  to  analyse  the  conditions  which  en- 
viron us  as  Man  units,  select  those  which 
seem  to  be  useful  to  our  scheme  of  con- 
struction and  harmony,  declare  all  deter- 
rents to  the  growth  of  our  selection  to 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    239 

be  weeds,  and  then  proceed  to  remove 
them  without  delay,  first,  by  pulling 
those  which  now  exist,  and  following 
that  by  establishing  strict  quarantine 
against  them. 

*        *        * 

I  can  teach  only  that  which  I  have 
learned,  and  pronounce  good  only  that 
which  has  led  to  happiness.  I  will 
therefore  note  the  progress  of  my  own 
discoveries  and  describe  those  which 
have  brought  increasing  happiness,  in 
order  that  they  may  serve  as  beacons 
and  monuments  to  such  as  may  seek 
the  same  goal  along  the  same  lines  of 
inquiry. 

The  first  forty-five  years  of  my  present 
life  were  spent  in  seeking  happiness  by 
means  of  personal  accumulation.  Money, 
friends,  distinction,  acquaintance  with 
art  in  all  its  various  expressions,  lands, 
luxurious  homes  in  favoured  localities, 
pictures,  rare  porcelains,  lacquers  and 
other  possessions,  isolated  for  my  own 
use,  and  for  the  enjoyment  of  chosen 


240    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

friends,  seemed  to  be  the  necessary  de- 
siderata of  happiness. 

In  turn,  all  of  these  came  to  me  in 
sufficient  abundance  to  give,  at  least,  a 
taste  of  their  quality  and  their  efficacy 
in  promoting  happiness ;  but,  in  the 
midst  of  them  were  always  obstructions 
to  unhampered  enjoyment,  increasing 
with  possession  and  accumulation  of  the 
coveted  means,  and  constantly  mocking, 
as  with  a  mirage,  the  ultimate  ideal 
desired. 

During  these  forty-five  years  of  quest 
of  happiness  there  were  constantly  ap- 
pearing above  the  horizon  of  my  search 
flashes  of  hope,  leading  in  new  direc- 
tions, which  proved  in  turn  to  be  but 
will  o'  the  wisps,  until  the  night  —  the 
morning  —  of  my  awakening,  as  related 
in  my  book  "  Menticulture." 

It  was  then,  for  the  first  time,  I  heard 
that  it  was  possible  to  get  rid  of  anger 
and  worry,  the  betes  noircs  of  my  exist- 
ence, which  were,  as  I  then  believed  and 
as  I  now  know,  the  dreaded  barriers 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    241 

between  me  and  perfect  happiness;  not 
because  the  mere  removal  of  these  par- 
ticular deterrents  to  happiness  will  ac- 
complish happiness,  but  because  the 
certain  result  of  the  removal  of  any 
principal  mental  obstructions  leads  to 
the  disappearance  of  contingent  errors, 
and  permits  freedom  of  growth  of  the 
elements  of  true  happiness. 
*  #  # 

It  is  proper  to  state  here  the  defini- 
tion of  happiness  which  is  the  result  of 
my  progressive  quest.  There  is  only  one 
quality  of  true  happiness,  as  there  can 
only  be  one  kind  of  quarantine,  and  the 
former  is  dependent  on  the  latter.  If 
both  are  not  perfect,  both  fail.  True 
happiness  is  the  evidence  and  fruit  of 
conscious  usefulness,  and  quarantine 
against  obstructions  to  normal  altruistic 
energy  is  the  best  means  of  attaining 
happiness. 

In  view  of  the  establishment  of 
the  status  of  the  Man  unit  in  the 
Nature- Man  partnership,  the  above  defi- 

16 


242    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

nition  and  assertion  may  be  extended 
to  declare  that  there  can  be  no  genuine 
happiness  short  of  usefulness  in  assist- 
ing other  units  to  be  strong  and  useful 
in  the  partnership  of  which  each  is  a 
member. 

True  happiness  cannot  exist  if  there 
is  present  an  element  of  indifference. 

Next  to  destructive  aggression,  in- 
difference, which  leads  to  neglect  and 
waste,  is  the  worst  fault  that  a  member 
of  the  Nature-Man  partnership  can  be 
guilty  of.  Neglect  nothing  that  will  aid 
growth  in  any  useful  form,  and  happi- 
ness will  surely  follow,  for  Nature  and 
the  God  of  Nature  will  "do  the  rest." 
*  #  # 

In  qualifying  for  the  Nature-Man 
partnership,  it  is  of  first  importance 
that  our  personal  equipment  should  be 
understood  and  cared  for  so  as  to  give 
us  the  greatest  strength.  The  body 
may  appropriately  be  likened  to  an 
electric  power  plant  —  a  Mind-Power 
Plant ;  the  body  being  the  engine,  the 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    243 

stomach  the  furnace,  the  arteries  and 
veins  the  boiler  tubes,  the  blood  in 
circulation  the  steam,  the  brain  the 
dynamo,  and  the  mind  electricity. 

Mind  is  the  all-important  factor  of 
our  equipment,  for  it  is  the  commander 
that  will  lead  and  direct  better  and 
wiser  than  we  can  now  imagine  if  we 
allow  it  a  chance  to  act  with  freedom. 

To  secure  this  freedom  we  must 
know  its  habitat,  its  requirements,  its 
nourishment,  and  learn  to  allow  it  to 
recharge  itself  sufficiently  and  to  con- 
centrate itself  on  its  chosen  usefulness 
without  imposing  upon  it  also  the 
drudgery  of  useless  work.  This  must 
be  done  with  the  same  idea  of  economy 
that  a  chef  is  relieved  of  the  drudgery  of 
washing  dishes  and  emptying  slops. 

According  to  Dr.  Edward  Hooker 
Dewey,  a  pharmacist,  army  surgeon  and 
tireless  investigator  of  forty-five  years' 
experience,  whose  revelations  have  been 
before  the  medical  profession  of  the 
world  for  many  years  without  a  single 


244    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

challenge,  the  brain  is  a  dynamo  which 
accumulates  energy  during  sleep,  and 
uses  it  during  the  waking  hours  of  its 
possessor. 

The  brain  manages  everything  for 
man  that  he  accomplishes.  It  brings 
messages  from  the  Creator,  which  are 
sometimes  called  intuition,  sometimes 
inspiration,  and  by  various  other  names. 
Emerson  calls  these  messages  the 
"  Over-Soul."  My  own  appreciation  of 
the  attribute  that  distinguishes  the 
Spiritual  Man  from  the  animal  man 
is  better  satisfied  by  the  name  "  Spirit- 
ual Cerebration,"  which  I  have  defined 
in  my  book  "  Happiness  "  as  :  "  Intelli- 
gence not  derived  from  experience, 
principally  obtained  during  sleep,  and, 
seemingly  supernaturally  clear  to  con- 
sciousness on  awaking  in  the  natural 
manner." 

The  brain  also  directs  all  action,  and, 
with  encouragement,  will  take  up  the 
messages  from  the  Creator  and  analyse, 
arrange,  and  develop  them  into  useful 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    245 

accomplishments,  and  then  file  them 
away  in  the  archives  of  the  memory  as 
additions  to  the  equipment  which  is 
necessary  to  greatness  in  the  pursuit  of 
usefulness. 

Dr.  Dewey  gives  the  bill  of  fare  of 
the  brain  in  seeking  its  own  nourish- 
ment, and  also  describes  the  work  it 
performs  in  transforming  the  fuel  we 
supply  it  with  into  the  tissues  on  which 
it  feeds. 

This  is  undoubtedly  a  very  impor- 
tant discovery  and  locates  the  source  of 
strength  and  teaches  how  to  conserve  it. 

I  will  not  give  the  technical  bill  of 
fare  of  the  brain,  for  you  would  not 
remember  it  better  than  I  do,  but  it  is 
all  composed  of  tissues  of  the  body,  fat 
predominating  to  the  quantity  of  ninety- 
seven  per  cent,  but  the  important  an- 
nouncement is  that  neither  the  brain 
itself  nor  any  of  the  nervous  centres 
diminish  during  consumption  of  tissue, 
neither  do  they  lose  any  of  their  power, 
even  in  cases  of  what  is  called  starva- 


246    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

tion,  up  to  the  point  of  death,  when  all 
of  the  fatty  and  muscular  tissues  of  the 
body  are  wasted  away,  leaving  the  brain 
and  nerve  centres  to  flicker  and  go  out, 
as  a  candle  does,  brighter  than  usual 
with  the  parting  flash  of  their  brilliancy. 

Dr.  Dewey  gives  President  Garfield 
as  an  illustrious  example  of  proof  of  the 
accuracy  of  his  deduction.  The  martyr 
President  lived  eighty  days  without  the 
addition  of  an  ounce  of  nutriment  to  his 
life,  carried  the  usual  clearness  of  mind 
to  the  last  moment,  and  passed  on  only 
when  the  last  muscular  tissue  had  been 
consumed  by  the  brain. 

Dr.  Dewey 's  assertion  that  starvation, 
so-called,  is  never  a  cause  of  disease,  and 
never  dangerous  to  life  and  health  until 
there  is  no  more  tissue  left  on  which  to 
feed  the  brain  and  other  nerve  centres, 
was  published  some  years  ago  and  I  have 
the  authority  of  the  Doctor  himself  that 
his  contention  has  not  been  once  dis- 
puted by  the  medical  profession.  Three 
eminent  English  physicians,  Drs.  A.  M. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    247 

Haig,  George  S.  Keith  and  A.  Rabigli- 
ati,  and  many  American  physicians,  have 
experimented  with  what  is  called  starva- 
tion for  the  cure  of  chronic  diseases 
which  have  their  origin  in  excess  of  in- 
harmonious deposits  caused  by  over- 
eating or  careless  eating.  The  results 
in  all  instances  recorded  have  been 
successful  in  modifying  or  curing  the 
disease. 

When  patients  have  understood  that 
they  were  suffering  no  injury  from  not 
taking  food  they  have  ceased  to  have 
hunger  cravings.  These  hunger  crav- 
ings usually  come  from  fear  or  from  dis- 
order caused  by  fermenting  food  in  an 
overloaded  stomach. 

We  can,  then,  on  undisputed  and 
practical  authority,  treat  craving  for 
food  or  drink  as  a  disease  and  therefore 
not  rational,  and  starvation  as  merely 
drawing  upon  the  stored  fuel  —  fatty 
tissue  —  by  the  dynamo  of  the  brain, 
restorable  at  will  at  any  time  before 
complete  exhaustion,  without  injury  — 


248    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

with  benefit,  in  fact  —  to  the  machinery 
of  the  body. 

The  brain  must  first  turn  food  into 
tissue,  and  then  derive  its  own  nourish- 
ment from  the  tissue.  If  the  right 
quantity  of  nourishment  can  be  intro- 
duced into  the  stomach,  if  the  quality  is 
of  the  right  kind,  and  if  it  is  fed  into 
the  furnace  of  the  stomach  with  rela- 
tively the  same  wisdom  that  a  compe- 
tent fireman  uses  in  feeding  his  furnace, 
the  brain  is  required  to  use  the  least 
possible  effort  in  this  direction,  and  has 
its  stored  energy  available  for  directing 
other  useful  action  and  serving  the  part- 
nership which  employs  it  with  an  effi- 
ciency, the  possibility  of  which  may  be 
well  illustrated  by  the  herculean  accom- 
plishments of  the  battleship  "  Oregon  " 
in  the  late  war  in  steaming  thirteen 
thousand  miles  and  engaging  in  a  great 
battle  without  a  stop  or  an  accident,  and 
without  "  starting  "  a  rivet. 

I  will  not  tell  you  much  of  what  Dr. 
Dewey  has  revealed,  because  I  want  you 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    249 

to  read  all  he  has  written,1  as  well  as  the 
books  of  the  English  physicians  men- 
tioned, but  I  must  say  this  much :  Very 
little  digestion  goes  on  during  sleep, 
and,  whether  it  does  or  not  the  brain 
has  from  sixty  to  one  hundred  days' 
nourishment  stored  up  within  each  of 
us,  and  can  feed  on  that  without  incon- 
venience to  us,  except  in  the  form  of 
what  is  called  habit  craving  or  imagi- 
nary hunger,  for  the  whole  of  that  time. 
A  person  who  has  been  without  food 
for  an  unusual  time,  if  he  does  not 
gorge  his  stomach  when  the  first  oppor- 
tunity of  breaking  the  fast  arrives,  is  not 
only  better  for  the  rest  the  brain  has 
had,  but  the  health  does  not  suffer  in 
any  way. 

It  is,  then,  no  serious  deprivation  to 
ask  a  person  to  go  without  what  we  call 
breakfast  —  the  getting-up  or  habit-crav- 
ing—  and  give  the  brain  a  chance  to 

1  Dr.  Dewey  is  the  author  of  numerous  books : 
notably,  the  "  No-Breakfast  Plan  "  which  he  supplies 
to  inquirers  direct  from  his  home  address,  Meadville, 
Pa. 


250    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

clean  up  the  remnants  of  the  last  day's 
supply  of  food  fuel,  and  express  new 
desires  in  an  earned  appetite.  There  is 
available,  on  waking  from  sleep,  a  fresh 
charged  brain  ready  to  serve  its  pro- 
prietor with  great  efficiency.  Inciden- 
tally it  has  to  do  some  "chores,"  rake 
out  the  clinkers,  dispose  of  the  ashes, 
relieve  the  grate  bars,  attend  to  any 
little  repairs,  brush  out  the  chimney  and 
generally  get  ready  for  the  work  of 
another  day. 

The  hunger  of  the- morning  is  neces- 
sarily but  a  habit-hunger.  The  best 
evidence  of  this  is  that,  when  busily 
employed,  we  forget  it  without  trouble ; 
and  also  is  that  European  peoples, 
where  the  disease  dyspepsia  is  not 
known  in  the  list  of  physical  derange- 
ments, perform  the  chief  physical  or 
mental  effort  of  the  day  before  their 
breakfast,  the  morning  coffee  scarcely 
meaning  anything  in  the  way  of  what 
we  call  a  meal. 

Dr.    Dewey's   firm  assertion  is   that 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    251 

when  the  stomach  has  had  a  chance  to 
"clean  up"  and  is  ready  for  more  fuel, 
it  will  make  it  known  in  healthy  man- 
ner by  a  healthy  appetite,  and  that  it  is 
rarely  normal  before  noon ;  and  not 
really  before  one  has  done  what  might 
be  called  a  "day's  work." 

I  can  assert  boldly,  as  the  result  of 
experience,  that  the  time  to  get  work 
out  of  the  brain  is  between  the  morning 
awakening  and  the  first  meal,  and  it  is 
the  same  relative  to  endurance  draughts 
on  the  physical  strength. 

Then,  in  the  heat  or  the  glare  of  the 
day,  having  accomplished  something 
useful  and  disposed  of  pressing  duties, 
so  as  not  to  feel  the  irritation  of  hurry, 
the  first  meal  of  the  day  can  be  taken 
with  restful  ease  and  it  will  be  found 
that  the  supply  demanded  by  the 
appetite  will  not  be  so  great  as  that 
demanded  by  the  unhealthful,  habit- 
inflamed  early  morning  call. 

It  may  not  seem  so,  but  this  digres- 
sion from  psychics  to  physics  is  very 


252    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

germane  to  my  subject  and  to  my  own 
experience. 

Without  knowing  that  Dr.  Dewey 
and  the  other  eminent  physicians  who 
endorse  his  theories  were  living  in  the 
world,  I,  in  the  summer  of  1894,  blun- 
dered into  a  personal  experience  of  diet 
that  produced  wonderful  results  which  I 
now  recall  with  all  the  vividness  of  the 
high  lights  of  extreme  pleasure  met  in 
foreign  travel. 

I  was  in  a  Southern  city  for  two 
months  during  an  unusually  hot  sum- 
mer, watching  some  developments  that 
could  not  be  hurried,  and  the  fruition 
of  which  was  important  to  my  interests. 
I  had  nothing  to  do  in  connection  with 
this  business  but  to  "  watch  and  wait." 

I  had  some  writing  to  do,  however, 
in  the  mean  time,  which  could  not  be 
well  or  comfortably  done  in  the  heat  of 
the  day,  hence  I  arose  at  daylight  and 
began  to  write.  At  that  time  of  the 
morning  nothing  to  eat  was  to  be  had, 
which  compelled  me  to  start  work 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    253 

without  it.  My  subject  was  an  absorb- 
ing one,  so  that,  once  under  way,  I 
would  not  be  diverted  until  I  had  "  writ- 
ten myself  out ; "  or  in  other  words,  had 
exhausted  the  consideration  of  the 
morning  messages  which  I  now  desig- 
nate "  Spiritual  Cerebration." 

It  happened,  under  these  circum- 
stances, that  my  habit-hunger  was  not 
given  a  hearing  and  it  was  nearly  noon 
before  I  felt  the  fatigue  or  even  the  heat 
of  the  burning  day,  for  I  worked  in  my 
pajamas,  and  had  no  time  to  look  at 
the  thermometer,  to  get  an  exaggerated 
suggestion  of  heat  by  which  to  start 
my  blood  chasing  itself  through  my 
veins. 

I  not  only  noticed  that  my  mid-day 
breakfast  was  a  deliciously  grateful  meal, 
but  that  appetite  became  satisfied  far 
short  of  the  formally  customary  abnor- 
mal early  morning  gorge,  and,  what  was 
more  remarkable  yet,  I  wanted  nothing 
during  the  rest  of  the  day,  and  not  even 
until  midnight,  except,  after  vigorous 


254    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

exercise  of  some  sort,  I  might  desire  a 
little  fruit  or  a  bit  of  bread  or  cracker ; 
but  never  a  full  course  dinner. 

I  wore  a  belt  at  my  trousers,  as  was 
the  custom  of  the  place,  and  in  a  few 
days  decreased  the  girth  of  my  corpu- 
lency one  hole  in  the  belt ;  and  before 
the  summer  was  over,  four  holes,  with 
only  the  most  comfortable  feeling  ac- 
companying the  loss  of  weight. 

When  my  family  returned  from 
Europe,  I  settled  back  into  the  Ameri- 
can and  English  habit  of  a  meat  break- 
fast, because  I  did  not  want  to  be 
"  different,"  and  at  the  same  time  I  half 
doubted  but  that  my  experience  was 
nothing  more  than  an  abnormal  one, 
attributable  to  the  inertia  of  summer 
heat,  literary  absorption  and  lack  of 
physical  exercise. 

Twice,  when  I  have  been  left  alone 
since  then,  away  from  the  restraint  of 
custom,  and  also  in  the  midst  of  abun- 
dant athletic  exercise,  I  have  again  cul- 
tivated the  same  habit  of  missing 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    255 

breakfast  through  desire  to  do  early 
morning  work,  with  the  same  splendid 
results. 

The  last  time  referred  to  is  the  pres- 
ent. My  search  for  a  lost  waif  through 
the  framing  of  an  appeal  for  him,  has 
given  me  such  absorbing  thought  that 
meals  have  been  of  no  consideration 
beside  it,  and  in  the  midst  of  it  I  find 
Dr.  Dewey's  book,  the  books  of  the 
English  physicians  indorsing  him ;  and 
have  secured  results  of  health,  comfort 
and  strength  to  myself  which  I  did  not 
know  I  possessed;  to  corroborate  my 
accidental  experience.  As  I  said  before, 
this  seems  a  very  wide  digression  from 
the  psychical  to  the  physical,  but  it  is 
really  no  digression  at  all,  for  it  is  in  the 
service  of  the  brain,  and  the  brain  is  the 
direct  agent  of  communication  between 
the  Creator  and  our  consciousness,  as- 
sisting us  to  work  together  in  the 
Nature-Man  partnership  with  useful 
efficiency. 


256    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

\ 

Now,  let  me  return  to  the  aim  of  my 
address,  and  pursue  the  thread  of  my  per- 
sonal experience  in  search  of  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  True  Living,  which, 
to  be  proven,  must  be  vouched  for  and 
tested  by  resultant  happiness. 

When  I  attacked  the  tap-roots  of 
trouble  and  shut  the  door  in  the  face  of 
anger  and  worry  for  ever,  I  saw  among 
the  bones  of  their  decomposition  the 
skeleton  of  fear.  It  proved  to  be  their 
backbone.  Fear,  then,  was  the  support 
of  all  the  deterrent  passions  that  beset 
brightest  manhood  and  womanhood  and 
pursue  it  to  an  untimely  death. 

My  book  "  Happiness  "  deals  with  the 
separation  of  fear-thought  from  fore- 
thought in'  order  to  show  that  it  is  pos- 
sible to  smother  a  vital  stimulant  of 
energy  with  a  resemblance  of  it  which  is 
as  deadly  a  poison  as  carbonic  acid  gas. 

While  I  have  been  engaged  in  pursu- 
ing germs  of  disorder  to  their  begin- 
nings, during  the  past  three  or  four 
years,  I  have  uncovered  many  a  beauti- 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    257 

ful  possession  that  formerly  I  did  not 
appreciate.  Appreciation  of  the  full 
value  of  Appreciation  is  one  of  these 
discoveries  of  priceless  value  and  useful- 
ness. I  have  spoken  of  this  in  "  Happi- 
ness," but  not  as  much  as  it  deserves, 
for  it  truly  is  "  The  Appreciation  of  God 
and  of  Good  that  gives  birth  to  Love, 
and  which  is  the  only  true  and  adequate 
measure  of  wealth." 

Nothing  else,  however,  in  the  whole 
quest,  has  approached  the  beauty  of  the 
love  for  children  that  has  come  to  me ; 
the  appreciation  of  them  as  Messages 
from  the  Creator,  consigned  to  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  environment  society  pro- 
vides for  them ;  as  likely  as  not,  any 
one  of  them  bringing  into  the  world  a 
great  intelligence  by  means  of  the  hum- 
blest of  parents. 

During  observation  of  social  ques- 
tions in  Europe,  my  interest  has  been 
drawn  constantly  to  children,  as  by  a 
powerful  magnet,  so  that  when  I  was 
called  back  to  this  country  to  attend  to 
17 


258    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

a  detail  of  business  and  met  the  adven- 
ture which  is  the  cause  of  my  present 
focalised  interest  in  neglected  ones,  as 
expressed  in  a  book  to  be  called,  when 
published,  "  That  Last  Waif ;  or,  Social 
Quarantine," 1  it  was  but  natural  that  I 
should  put  all  the  force  of  my  sympathy 
into  the  cause  of  rescue,  and  that  I 
should  find  in  that  service  more  happi- 
ness than  in  any  of  the  luxurious  amuse- 
ments which  had  claimed  me  as  a 
devotee  in  times  gone  by. 

True  happiness  is  the  result  of  con- 
scious usefulness.  This  I  can  assert 
with  the  confidence  of  knowledge,  not 
alone  from  my  own  experience,  but  from 
observation  of  the  great  army  of  kinder- 
gartners  and  child-savers  whom  I  have 
met  in  my  travels,  and  especially  within 
the  past  year ;  and  it  is  evident  that  the 
service  attaching  to  protecting  little 
neglected  angels  from  the  evil  sugges- 
tions and  the  cruel  conditions  that  may 

1  Published,  and  proceeds  dedicated  to  the  cause 
of  the  waifs,  October,  189$. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    259 

make  of  them,  not  men,  but  beasts,  is 
one  of  the  avenues  of  usefulness  in  which 
these  "  Angels  of  the  State  "  meet  with 
the  smile  of  the  Master,  who  was  the 
first  Great  Kindergartner ;  whose  teach- 
ings centred  about  and  dwelt  upon  the 
care  of  children  as  of  first  consideration, 
and  who  said,  "  Suffer  Little  Children 
to  come  unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not, 
for  of  such  is  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven." 
Childhood  has  suffered,  manhood  has 
suffered,  progress  has  suffered,  for  lo ! 
these  ages,  the  cruel  assumption  that 
mankind  is  naturally  depraved.  In  re- 
cent years  public  conscience  has  been 
dulled  by  the  anaesthetic  that  there 
must  be  a  Have-To-Be-Bad  Class  in  all 
communities.  This  has  been  formulated 
into  the  assumption  that  there  is  in 
every  group  of  the  Heaven-Sent  Angels 
of  Purity,  a  full  ten  per  cent  that  must 
be  depraved  and  unredeemable  except 
by  the  interposition  of  special  dispensa- 
tion, which  is  a  direct  contradiction  of 
all  of  the  observed  Laws  of  Creation  to 


260    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

which  intelligence  now  subscribes.  The 
motto  of  this  assumption  is  couched  in 
this  vicious  legend:  "  The  hopelessly  sub- 
merged ten  per  cent  stratum  of  society." 
Half  an  hour's  walk  from  this  hos- 
pitable mansion,  on  the  shore  of  the 
beautiful  Geneva  Lake,  is  a  place  called 
"  Holiday  Home."  There  are  now 
housed  and  thoughtfully  cared  for  at 
the  "  Home  "  about  one  hundred  of  the 
"  Hopelessly  Submerged  Ten  Per  Cent 
Stratum  of  (Chicago's)  Society."  Dur- 
ing the  summer  half  a  thousand  of  these 
unfortunates  will  come  for  two  weeks 
each.  When  we  touched  at  the  wharf 
last  evening  after  coming  from  the  con- 
cert given  in  their  interest  at  Mr.  Chal- 
ner's  lakeside  home,  the  waifs  met  us 
with  a  merry  class-yell,  and  greeted  us 
with  an  intelligence,  a  buoyancy,  and  a 
freedom,  born  of  their  holiday,  such  as 
was  not  excelled  at  any  of  the  other 
landings  where  only  the  children  of  rich 
summer  residenters  were  met.  We  all 
saw  these  "  waifs  "  and  we  marvelled  at 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    261 

them,  for,  with  the  grime  of  the  slum 
washed  from  their  sweet  faces,  and  with 
clean,  though  sometimes  ragged  cloth- 
ing, they  might  have  figured  in  the 
mix-up  of  "  Pinafore,"  or  have  starred 
in  a  dramatic  representation  of  the 
"  Prince  and  the  Pauper,"  with  all  the 
grace  required  of  princelings. 

They  have  n't  been  long  from  God, 
and  they  are  god-like  or  not,  as  we  have 
welcomed  and  protected  them,  or  re- 
buffed or  neglected  them. 

Let  me  assure  you  in  the  most  prac- 
tical way  that  there  are  two  sides  to  this 
child  question.  There  is  a  sentimental 
side,  than  which  there  is  no  other  so 
worthy ;  and  there  is  a  practical  side, 
than  which  there  is  none  so  profitable. 

The  best  and  most  profitable  service 
in  the  whole  gamut  of  useful  occupa- 
tions that  I  know  about  is  in  .learning 
to  know  children,  and  in  connection 
with  a  Quarantine  movement  which  is 
now  started,  and  which  aims  to  not  let 
one  of  these  wards  of  the  Christ  escape 


262    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

the  best  care  known  to  Love  and  the 
Science  of  Child- Life. 

The  creche  and  the  kindergarten  and 
the  manual  training  schools,  and  domes- 
tic training  classes,  as  well  as  institutions 
similar  to  the  "  Holiday  Home  "  across 
the  Bay,  have  demonstrated  within  the 
past  thirty  years  that  fully  ninety-eight 
per  cent  of  the  "  Hopelessly  Submerged 
Ten  Per  Cent "  can  be  rescued  after 
they  have  been  warped  by  evil  surround- 
ings. What  will  not  the  same  effort 
effect  if  directed  toward  prevention  and 
protection,  instead  of  being  squandered 
in  careless  and  soulless  correction  ? 

Christ  said :  "  And  a  little  child  shall 
lead  them."  Let  us  awake  to  the  call. 
It  is  the  way  to  Heaven ;  for,  "  Of  such 
is  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven." 

FIVE  YEARS'  CONFIRMATORY  EVIDENCE 

The  spirit  of  the  preceding  address 
to  the  good  members  of  the  Unity 
League  organisation  on  the  shores  of 
beautiful  Lake  Geneva  has  been  the  in- 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    263 

spiring  motive  of  the  quest  for  scientific 
endorsement  of  Economic  Nutrition  for 
the  benefit  of  the  present  generation  of 
children,  and,  incidentally,  of  their  elders. 
In  Economic  Nutrition  lies  protection 
from  sexual  morbidity,  alcoholic  intem- 
perance, bodily  disease,  savage  passions 
and  all  the  brood  of  evil  contamination 
and  temptation.  In  Economic  Nutrition 
lie  possibilities  of  physical  and  mental 
energy  and  optimistic  happiness  such 
as  the  world  has  not  been  accustomed 
to  in  the  memory  of  history.  Eco- 
nomic Nutrition  is  what  children  want 
to  be  taught  with  their  first  indelible 
impressions,  and  the  present  great  move- 
ment of  which  this  little  book  treats, 
for  which  it  was  first  responsible,  and 
for  which  it  is  republished  in  a  new 
and  extended  edition,  is  expected  to  fur- 
nish authoritative  knowledge  relative  to 
the  most  Economic  Nutrition,  so  that 
mothers  and  kindergartners  may  meet 
the  little  waifs  from  the  Creator  on  the 
threshold  of  this  present  life  with  words 


204    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

of  wisdom  and  examples  of  sanitary  per- 
fection, instead  of  confronting  them  at 
once  with  the  poison  of  ignorance  rela- 
tive to  their  most  important  concern, 
-their  own  Economic  Nutrition. 

That  the  contentions  uttered  in  "  That 
Last  Waif;  or,  Social  Quarantine,"  re- 
ferred to  in  the  Lake  Geneva  Address,  are 
reasonable  is  evidenced  by  the  experience 
of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Kellogg  and  their  adopted 
family  of  twenty-four  waifs,  the  acquaint- 
ance of  which  has  since  been  made. 

All  of  the  altruists  who  have  engaged 
in  kindergardenry  among  the  neglected, 
Dr.  Barnardo,  Dr.  Kellogg  and  the  rest, 
are  full  of  confidence  in  the  possibility 
and  efficacy  of  a  perfect  quarantine  as 
outlined  in  "  That  Last  Waif."  It  is  an 
Epicurean  method  of  promoting  Men- 
ticulture,  killing  Fearthought,  denounc- 
ing Gluttony,  saving  that  Last  Waif, 
and  attaining  Happiness  through  learn- 
ing the  A.B.-Z.  of  Our  Own  (Economic] 
Nutrition. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    265 
GIVE   THE   BABIES  A  CHANCE 

THE    INSPIRING    MOTIVE 

The  enthusiasm  excited  by  a  per- 
sistent study  of  the  problem  of  human 
nutrition  is  inspired  by  the  need  of  an 
intelligent  scheme  of  information  and 
instruction  which  may  be  understood 
by  mothers  and  teachers  for  the  benefit 
of  children.  Unlike  the  young  of  the 
lower  animals,  the  babes  of  mankind 
have  some  years  of  dependent  existence 
during  which  much  unconscious  murder 
is  committed,  and  during  which  the  inno- 
cents are  more  or  less  poisoned  with  bad 
suggestions  that  weaken  them  all  through 
life.  Colts,  calves,  pigs,  chickens,  and 
the  like  survive  the  period  of  dependence 
in  much  greater  proportion  than  do  the 
young  of  their  human  masters  survive 
the  infantile  stage  of  existence,  and  this 
is  largely  due  to  the  lack  of  basic  or 


266    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

parent  knowledge  on  the  part  of  mothers 
relative  to  their  own  nutrition,  and  also 
a  pitiable  ignorance  concerning  the  nu- 
trition of  their  children,  the  double  igno- 
rance constituting  a  double  crime. 

Even  if  careless  about  ourselves,  is 
it  not  shameful  that  we  do  not  concen- 
trate effort  in  learning  the  truth  about 
our  instinctive  means  of  protection  in 
our  own  alimentation  and  in  classi- 
fying the  knowledge  in  a  way  that  will 
make  it  available  to  children,  through 
their  proper  guardians,  when  they  arrive 
in  the  world  "  as  helpless  as  a  babe "  ? 

If  knowledge  which  seems  to  be  pro- 
tective had  not  been  evolved  out  of 
recent  experiment,  or  if  the  hope  of 
gaining  such  knowledge  had  not  been 
collected  from  good  authority,  the  appeal 
might  seem  futile  ;  but  this  is  not  the 
case.  The  most  intelligent  and  studious 
investigators  are  united  in  the  belief 
that  the  problem  can  be  scientifically 
solved  and  the  confusion  of  ideas  settled 
by  concentrated  personal  and  collective 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    267 

study  of  economic  nutrition,  through 
observation  of  the  natural  requirements, 
and  by  trial  of  the  care  in  taking  food 
which  is  necessary  to  secure  the  most 
profitable  economies. 


ILLUSTRATION 

Here  is  an  illustration,  both  of  the 
present  need  of  better  knowledge  and 
the  hope  of  its  attainment.  It  is  an 
account  of  one  accidental  experience 
which  showed  that  excess  of  food  may 
be  as  detrimental  to  a  tiny  baby  depend- 
ant, as  it  is  generally  conceded  to  be 
harmful  to  grown  persons.  The  case 
was  described  by  Dr.  Chadwick  of  Bos- 
ton to  Professor  Bowditch,  and  by  the 
latter  repeated  to  the  author.  An  in- 
fant was  not  progressing  as  it  should 
and  failed  to  gain  normally  in  weight. 
It  was  under  the  charge  of  a  nurse 
and  was  being  carefully  watched.  A 
certain  quantity  of  milk  was  prescribed 
for  daily  nourishment,  at  prescribed 


268    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

times,  in  a  prescribed  manner;  but  the 
child  did  not  increase  in  weight  and 
was  "doing  poorly."  For  some  reason 
the  nurse  was  changed  and  instructions 
were  repeated  by  the  old  to  the  new 
nurse.  In  the  course  of  a  week  the 
little  patient  showed  signs  of  marked 
improvement,  both  in  gain  of  weight 
and  in  general  condition.  In  order  to 
record  the  particulars  of  the  change 
the  physician  questioned  the  nurse  and 
learned  that  only  one  half  the  nourish- 
ment originally  prescribed  had  been 
given,  the  new  nurse  having  forgotten 
or  misunderstood  the  orders. 

The  reason  the  little  fellow  had  been 
"  doing  so  poorly "  under  the  original 
prescription  was  because  he 'had  been 
using  up  his  puny  strength  getting  rid 
of  the  excess  of  food  that  had  been 
forced  upon  his  little  stomach  and  in- 
testines. When  the  excess  was  stopped, 
so  that  his  digestive  apparatus  could 
occupy  itself  with  his  real  needs,  the 
babe  had  a  surplus  of  energy  for  growth 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    269 

and  thrived  as  a  rightly  nourished  child 
should  do. 

NOTE  :  In  connection  with  the  foregoing,  reference 
is  invited  to  the  author's  conception  of  how  attention 
to  one's  personal  economies,  beginning  with  the  econ- 
omy of  personal  nutrition,  is  interrelated  to  general 
menticulture  and  the  child-saving  phase  of  our  personal 
responsibility  in  child  culture.  Even  if  we  are  care- 
lessly suicidal  ourselves,  we  owe  better  care  to  inno- 
cent and  dependent  children.  This  will  be  found  in 
the  "  Explanation  of  the  A.  B.  C.  Life  Series  "  at  the 
end  of  the  book. 


270    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 


MUNCHING   PARTIES   AND 
THE   CHEWING   FAD 

To  the  scientific  person  of  ultra  con- 
servative bent  of  mind  this  free  and 
easy  screed,  offered  as  the  exponent  of 
a  great  economic  idea,  will  seem  offen- 
sive, and  justly  so ;  but  it  has  been 
written  with  a  purpose,  and  happily  the 
purpose  is  being  effected  as  speedily 
as  the  author  hoped  for  when  his  own 
discovery  relative  to  the  profitableness 
of  an  epicurean,  economic  nutrition  be- 
came a  reality  of  experience  and  sug- 
gested publication. 

To  this  free  presentation,  couched 
in  a  variety  of  class  expression,  is  due, 
in  a  large  measure,  the  new  revival  of 
feeding  reform  which  has  spread  far 
over  the  civilised  world,  where  it  was 
most  needed,  within  the  past  five  years. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    271 

Up  to  five  years  ago,  and  to  some 
extent  now,  the  prescription  method  of 
recommending  diets  was  and  is  com- 
mon. In  fact  it  was  universal  up  to  a 
few  years  ago ;  for  no  one,  as  far  as  is 
known,  had  yet  suggested  that  normal 
appetite  was  the  only  competent  pre- 
scriber,  and  that  it  was  the  office  of 
the  physician  to  teach  his  clients  and 
patients  how  to  normalise  the  appetite. 

It  required  two  years  of  the  circula- 
tion of  the  original  publications  and 
the  constant,  persistent,  personal  asser- 
tion of  the  author  before  any  continued 
credence  of  his  assertions  was  secured, 
with  the  one  exception  of  a  lay  friend 
in  New  York  who  happened  to  be  in 
a  state  of  great  need  of  reform  at  the 
time,  as  related  under  the  heading  of 
"  A  Five  Year's  Lay  Experience." 

It  was  only  about  two  years  ago  that 
the  new  claims  had  received  sufficient 
recognition  to  admit  of  explaining  them 
to  busy  men  of  prominence  in  the  medi- 
cal profession.  After  the  confirmation 


272    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

nt  the  laboratories  of  the  University  of 
Cambridge,  England,  the  author  had 
an  opportunity  to  make  a  statement  and 
give  a  demonstration  to  Sir  Thomas 
Barlow,  the  private  physician  of  King 
Edward  VII.  Sir  Thomas  was  most 
sympathetic  with  the  physiological  pos- 
sibilities, and  there  has  been  frequent 
evidence  since  to  show  that  he  pursued 
thought  of  the  suggestions,  and  that  his 
interest  has  been  responsible  for  the 
aristocratic  lay  interest  which  originated 
the  so-termed  "  Munching  Parties "  in 
London. 

The  English  term  "munching,"  sig- 
nifying chewing  or  masticating,  is  an 
excellent  amendment,  which  is  gladly 
adopted.  "  Masticating  "  is  technical 
and  formal.  "  Chewing  "  has  been  dis- 
graced by  its  application  to  gum  and  to 
tobacco,  and  the  other  English  expres- 
sion, "  biting,"  suggests  the  carnivorous, 
savage  use  of  the  jaws  and  teeth,  while 
"munching"  implies  enjoyment,  as  the 
munching  of  delicacies  by  children. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    273 

As  reported  from  London,  "Munch- 
ing Parties  "  were  inaugurated  to  teach 
attention,  to  encourage  mouth  prepara- 
tion of  food  for  digestion,  and  also  for 
the  aesthetic  purpose  of  gaining  all  the 
gustatory  pleasure  possible  from  food 
while  conserving  the  economies  of  nu- 
trition. The  method  employed  was 
most  ingenious,  and  with  some  modifica- 
tion is  approved  by  the  author.  When 
a  course  was  served  at  "  Munching 
Lunches,"  the  manager  of  the  ceremony 
employed  a  stop  watch  to  time  the 
treatment  of  the  first  morsel  of  food 
taken  by  each  of  the  guests.  Five 
minutes  was  prescribed  for  considera- 
tion of  the  morsel.  It  was  an  extrava- 
gantly long  delay  over  any  one  morsel, 
but  it  set  the  pace  of  deliberation,  and 
time,  under  the  circumstances  of  a  social 
function,  was  not  a  matter  of  moment. 

A  five  minute,  or  even  a  one  minute 
consideration  of  a  morsel  of  delicious 
food,  tends  to  give  a  new  appreciation 
of  its  taste  value  and  suggests  more 

18 


274    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

careful  enjoyment  than  is  usual  when 
nervous  conversation  is  the  main  busi- 
ness of  a  meal  and  food  is  a  mere 
accompaniment. 

Industrious  munching  performs  about 
one  hundred  acts  of  mastication  to  the 
minute,  and  from  twelve  to  fifteen  mouth- 
fuls  of  ordinary  food  is  sufficient  to 
satisfy  completely  a  hearty  appetite. 
Tender  or  well-prepared  or  well-cooked 
food  is  fully  treated  by  munching  for 
natural  swallowing  in  even  much  less 
time  than  a  minute.  The  necessary 
time  ranges  from  one-twentieth  to  one- 
fifth  of  a  minute,  or  ordinary  food  is 
reduced  so  as  to  excite  the  natural  Swal- 
lowing Impulse  by  from  five  to  twenty 
masticatory  acts ;  and  this  applies  equally 
to  the  tasting  movements  required  by 
sapid  liquids.  Hard  or  coarse  breads, 
and  even  potato,  may  require  more  at- 
tention and  longer  time,  and  deficiency 
of  saliva  delays  the  process;  but  it  is 
a  very  refractory  food  that  will  require 
more  than  half  a  minute  to  the  ordinary 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    275 

mouthful.  Small  sips  and  small  mouth- 
fuls  demand  less  proportionate  time,  so 
that  the  actual  time  necessary  to  satisfy 
a  good  appetite  does  not  exceed  twelve 
or  fifteen  or  at  most  twenty  minutes 
when  the  secretion  of  saliva  is  ample, 
as  in  the  case  of  real  hunger;  but  the 
enjoyment  of  taste  does  not  stop  short 
with  the  actual  cessation  of  the  psy- 
chological sensation.  The  memory  of 
taste  continues  after  the  actual  sensi- 
bility has  ceased,  and  one  of  the  most 
agreeable  compensations  of  a  meal  is 
enjoyed  in  the  form  of  complete  satisfac- 
tion following  the  act  of  eating.  It  is 
a  very  different  and  a  very  much  more 
agreeable  sensation  than  that  attending 
a  distended  stomach,  and  must  be  felt 
and  understood  to  be  fully  appreciated. 
"  Munching  Party  Functions,"  then, 
reveal  more  possible  pleasure  and  bene- 
fit than  the  mere  tickling  of  the  palate, 
so-called,  and  diffuse  their  benefits  to 
cover  the  mechanical  act  and  a  long- 
continued  feeling  of  satisfaction  that 


276    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

is  more  subtly  pleasing  than  the  im- 
mediate physiological  cause  of  the 
contentment. 

The  "  Munching  Party "  scheme  of 
education  and  enjoyment  has  been  car- 
ried to  America,  and  has  received  the 
name  of  the  "  Chewing  Fad."  As  such 
it  has  been  cartooned  in  the  news- 
papers, but  in  no  matter  what  form  the 
suggestion  is  spread  it  can  do  only 
good. 

Appreciation  of  the  suggestion  has 
been  generously  expressed  in  the  let- 
ters of  Dr.  Kellogg  of  the  great  Battle 
Creek  Sanitarium  and  by  Dr.  Dewey, 
the  author  of  the  "  No  Breakfast  Plan," 
as  well  as  by  the  author's  intimate  col- 
leagues, Drs.  Van  Someren  and  Hig- 
gins,  of  Venice,  Italy. 

There  are  many  physicians  from 
whom  the  author  has  heard  report,  and 
perhaps  thousands  who  have  not  yet 
been  heard  from,  who  are  conveying 
the  slow-eating  and  appreciative-atten- 
tion suggestions  to  their  patients;  and 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    277 

as  the  reform  in  dietetic  technique  has 
sprung  up  since  the  publication  of  the 
booklets  of  the  author  —  "  What  Sense  ? 
or,  Economic  Nutrition,"  and  "  Na- 
ture's Food  Filter ;  or,  What  and  When 
to  Swallow,"  which  were  afterwards 
coupled  together  under  the  title  of 
"Glutton  or  Epicure" — he  has  good 
reason  to  suppose  that  the  spread  of 
the  idea  originated  with  the  publica- 
tion of  his  discovery  even  where  the 
personal  influence  had  not  been  given 
direct. 

While  visiting  recently  in  Cam- 
bridge, Massachusetts,  the  author  met 
a  distinguished  professor  of  Harvard 
University  who  had  been  suffering  from 
nervous  prostration.  He  had  spent 
some  time  in  Europe  consulting  the 
most  eminent  neurologists,  but  with  lit- 
tle or  no  relief.  On  his  return  to  the 
United  States  he  was  advised  to  go  to 
a  sanitarium  in  Bethel,  Me.,  under  the 
direction  of  Dr.  Gehring,  where  effective 
cures  of  cases  of  nervous  prostration 


278    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

have  been  performed.  The  professor 
was  given  "  Menticulture  "  and  "  Glut- 
ton or  Epicure  "  to  read,  and  was  rec- 
ommended to  practise  the  advice  of 
the  books  in  connection  with  his  treat- 
ment. These  two  books  are  an  account 
of  the  way  the  author  promoted  his 
own  salvation  from  the  uncertainty  rel- 
ative to  physical  health  and  mental 
control,  and  it  is  by  these  means  that 
the  psychic,  mechanical,  and  chemical 
necessities  of  nutrition  are  satisfied. 

The  author  spent  an  hour  with 
Dr.  Alexander  Haig,  of  London,  while 
undergoing  the  Cambridge  Univer- 
sity Examination  reported  upon  by  Sir 
Michael  Foster,  and  exhaustively  argued 
the  claims  of  thorough  mouth  treat- 
ment of  nutriment  to  that  distinguished 
dietetic  specialist.  The  argument  met 
with  much  incredulity,  as  has  been  the 
case  in  all  first  presentations  of  the 
idea.  Dr.  Haig  pronounced  the  appeal 
to  even  a  normalised  appetite  dan- 
gerous, and  clung  to  the  prescription 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    279 

theory  of  regulating  food.  He  seems, 
however,  to  have  since  learned  the 
efficacy  of  munching  and  tasting  in 
assisting  the  empirical  prescription 
method,  and  now  recommends  it  as  en- 
thusiastically as  do  Drs.  Van  Someren, 
Higgins,  Kellogg,  and  Dewey.  He  has 
even  sent  patients  to  a  resort  in  the 
country  in  England  to  acquire  the 
habit  of  munching  where  there  was 
present  in  them  the  strong  pernicious 
habit  of  nervous  haste  and  inattention 
in  connection  with  their  ingestion  of 
food. 

This  is  bound  to  be  the  case  with 
physicians  where  the  subject  is  given 
attention  and  the  method  is  accorded 
a  fair  trial  without  lapses.  Credit  for 
the  origination  of  the  suggestion  is 
here  taken  to  increase  the  effectiveness 
of  the  claims  presented  in  the  "  A.  B.-Z. 
of  Our  Own  Nutrition "  and  in  this 
book.  Readers  are  recommended  not 
to  imitate  the  prevalent  error  of  think- 
ing that  so  simple  a  suggestion  is  not 


important  or  otherwise  scientists  would 
have  proclaimed  it  long  before  now. 
The  ancient  hypotheses  of  text-book 
physiology  were  mainly  based  upon  the 
study  of  nutrition,  beginning  in  the 
stomach,  and  after  the  danger  of  indi- 
gestion had  been  forced  upon  the  ali- 
mentary system  ;  and  hence  they  often 
dealt  with  confused,  abnormal,  and  path- 
ologic conditions,  and  they  rarely  had 
opportunity  to  observe  the  normal  con- 
dition intended  by  Nature. 

Professor  Pawlow,  of  St.  Petersburg, 
confirmed  the  necessity  of  a  right  psy- 
chic environment;  Dr.  Cannon,  of  the 
Harvard  Medical  School,  showed  the 
influence  of  mechanical  thoroughness 
and  nervous  shock  upon  digestion ;  and 
Dr.  Harry  Campbell,  of  London,  ex- 
plained the  mechanical  and  saliva!  effi- 
cacy of  mastication  in  procuring  good 
assimilation  of  nutriment  and  an  eco- 
nomic nutrition.  The  work  of  Pro- 
fessor Pawlow  and  Dr.  Cannon  was 
independent  scientific  research,  and  so 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    281 

was  that  of  Dr.  Campbell;  but  the 
latter  was  undoubtedly  suggested  or 
stimulated  by  Dr.  Van  Someren's  pre- 
sentment of  his  paper  to  the  British 
Medical  Association.  The  investiga- 
tions of  Sir  Michael  Foster,  Professor 
Chittenden,  Drs.  Higgins,  Kellogg,  and 
Dewey  were  directly  inspired  by  the 
author  in  connection  with  his  Venetian 
colleague,  Dr.  Ernest  Van  Someren. 
The  papers,  reports,  articles,  and  lec- 
tures of  these  authorities  are  given  in 
the  "A.  B.-Z.  of  Our  Own  Nutrition," 
and  are  repeatedly  mentioned  in  this 
volume  because  this  book  is  revised  and 
reissued  as  an  extended  explanatory 
companion  of  the  larger  scientific  pre- 
sentation. 

In  pursuit  of  true  menticulture  the 
personality  of  the  individual  should  be 
completely  suppressed.  He  becomes 
the  agent  of  his  inspirations,  his  reve- 
lations, or  his  altruistic  convictions,  and 
as  such  speaks  for  the  ideas  presented, 
and  in  no  immodest  spirit  of  vain  ego- 


282    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

tism.  In  descending  from  the  plane  of 
high  literary  propriety  to  impress  by 
simile  and  analogy,  the  object  foremost 
in  mind  is  to  attract  a  variety  of  sym- 
pathies. The  author  reveres  the  dig- 
nified in  art  and  in  demeanour,  and 
deplores  the  necessity  of  personal  asso- 
ciation to  spread  the  merits  of  what  he 
believes  to  be  fundamental  truths  of 
the  philosophy  of  true  living.  But  so 
strong  is  the  conviction  of  the  author 
that  he  possesses  fundamental  truths 
which  have  been  overlooked  in  the 
rapid  progress  of  the  race  in  the  lux- 
uries of  living,  that  where  it  is  seem- 
ingly desirable  to  employ  unusual 
means  to  attract  attention  he  feels 
compelled  to  do  so. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    283 


SPECIMEN  ECONOMIC  DINNER 

IN   A 

SUMPTUOUS  MODERN   AMERICAN 
HOTEL 

The  author  was  invited  to  dine  with 
some  friends  one  evening  in  summer  at 
a  hotel  in  New  York,  and  the  invitation 
concluded  with  "  Menu  a  la  Fletcher." 

The  dinner  was  to  be  served  in  the 
sitting-room  of  my  host,  and  when  I  ar- 
rived had  not  yet  been  ordered.  "  You 
must  order  the  dinner  for  us,"  said  my 
host,  "  and  we  will  agree  to  your  selec- 
tion." "  But  I  cannot  order  for  any  one 
but  myself,"  said  I  in  reply.  "  The 
chief  contention  I  make  for  natural 
nutrition  is  that  the  appetite  is  the  only 
true  indication  of  the  bodily  need,  and 
you  must  interpret  your  own  appetite 
both  as  to  estimated  quantity  required 
and  the  sort  of  food  craved." 


284    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

After  some  discussion  I  agreed  to 
stand  as  go-between  and  take  the  symp- 
toms of  appetite  from  each  and  give  the 
order.  The  waiter  was  standing  by  with 
pencil  in  hand  and  urged  a  number  of 
expensive  dishes  that  were  the  special- 
ties of  the  day.  I  asked  him  to  "be 
quiet,  please,  and  let  us  make  our  own 
selection."  I  first  placed  the  bill  of  fare 
in  the  hands  of  the  daughter  of  my  host 
and  asked  her  to  name  the  first  thing 
that  came  into  her  mind  in  connection 
with  the  order.  She  replied,  "  Baked  po- 
tatoes and  —  "  "  Stop,"  said  I ;  "  baked 
potatoes  it  is;  now  it  is  your  turn  to 

choose,  R .  What  comes  first  to 

your  mind  ?  "  "  Green  corn,"  was  the 
answer.  "  Very  well,  waiter ;  one  order 
of  baked  potatoes,  one  order  of  green 
corn,  and  a  lemon  ice.  Bring  these  and 
we  will  order  more  if  we  require." 

The  waiter  hesitated  and  was  about 
to  protest  something  when  I  stopped 
him  with  the  assurance  that  the  order 
given  was  all  that  we  would  specify  at 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    285 

first,  and  that  if  the  service  was  unusual 
and  caused  trouble  we  would  submit 
to  an  extra  service  charge  to  square 
accounts. 

While  the  order  was  being  filled 
there  was  considerable  funmaking,  but 
I  would  give  no  explanations.  The 
waiter  returned  shortly  with  the  order 
as  given,  and  it  was  laid  out  to  the 
accompaniment  of  a  complete  dinner 
utensil  service.  I  asked  the  young  lady 
to  please  prepare  one  of  the  potatoes  in 
the  way  she  liked  best,  and  this  was 
done  by  taking  the  mealy  heart  out  of 
the  jacket  and  mixing  it  with  butter, 
salt,  and  pepper  to  taste.  In  the  mean- 
time the  father  had  taken  an  ear  of  corn 
and  was  prepared  to  enjoy  it  in  response 
to  his  appetite  the  same  as  he  would  if 
he  were  in  the  woods  with  a  lumber- 
man's appetite  and  only  corn  to  be  had. 
The  large  glass  of  lemon  ice  was  then 
placed  between  us  as  a  "centrepiece." 
"  Are  n't  you  going  to  take  your  ice 
now  ? "  queried  the  young  lady.  "  Not 


286    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

now,"  replied  I.  "  I  must  attend  to  your 
method  of  taking  your  potato  to  see  that 
you  do  it  economic  justice,  and  I  must 
see  that  your  father  does  not  waste  any 
of  that  delicious  corn.  Now,  Mary, 
let  me  see  how  much  good  you  can 
munch  out  of  your  first  mouthful.  Do 
not  swallow  any  of  it  until  it  is  actually 
sucked  up  by  the  Swallowing  Impulse, 
and  when  that  happens  you  will  note 
that  only  a  portion  of  it  is  taken  and 
the  rest  will  naturally  return  to  the 
front  of  the  mouth,  if  you  do  not  re- 
strain it,  and  will  still  be  a  delicious 
liquid  most  agreeable  to  taste."  This 
happened  as  suggested,  and  there  were 
three  distinct  swallowing  acts  before  the 
last  of  the  mouthful  had  disappeared 
in  response  to  the  Swallowing  Impulse. 
.  "My!  but  I  never  realised  that  potato 
was  so  good,"  exclaimed  the  young 
lady ;  and  "  Gracious !  is  n't  this  corn 
bully!"  echoed  the  father.  "Good!" 
added  I.  "  If  that  is  true  of  the  first 
mouthful,  I  think  you  will  find  it  true  of 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    287 

the  other  mouthfuls  until  your  appetite 
for  potato  and  corn  is  satisfied;  and 
as  long  as  your  appetites  hold  good  for 
them,  you  are  being  nourished  as  your 
body-needs  require."  With  the  slow 
eating,  the  appetite  of  each  for  the 
chosen  food  was  soon  quieted ;  one,  we 
will  say  for  illustration  of  the  principle, 
with  a  single  potato  and  the  other  with 
a  single  ear  of  corn.  "  I  think  I  should 
relish  a  little  of  your  second  potato  if 
you  are  not  going  to  take  it,"  said  the 
father,  addressing  his  daughter;  and  she 
replied,  "  Your  corn  seems  nice,  father ; 
may  I  have  your  second  ear  in  exchange 
for  my  potato  ?  "  This  was  agreeable  to 
each,  and  each  partook  somewhat  of 
the  other's  original  selection  until  the 
appetite  of  each  was  so  completely  satis- 
fied that  neither  could  more  than  taste 
a  little  of  my  lemon  ice  as  a  final  deli- 
cacy; and  as  I  did  not  want  all  of  it, 
the  one  order  sufficed  for  us.  I  had 
breakfasted  quite  heartily  at  one  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  after  having  written 


288    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

several  thousand  words  of  correspond- 
ence, and  really  wanted  but  half  the 
generous  portion  of  ice  that  had  been 
brought.  I  had  ordered  it  set  into  ice- 
water,  after  placing  it  ceremonially  as  a 
centrepiece,  and  it  had  kept  its  icy  con- 
sistency waiting  for  what  I  thought  was 
likely  to  happen. 

Both  my  host  and  my  hostess  de- 
clared that  they  had  never  enjoyed  a 
summer  evening  meal  more,  and  yet 
all  that  was  ordered  was  not  consumed, 
while  the  cost,  for  the  three,  was  less 
than  a  dollar  for  the  food  alone. 

The  method  employed  to  interpret 
appetite  was  a  revelation  to  my  friends. 
They  were  accustomed  to  ordering  sev- 
eral courses  for  each  person,  although 
they  thought  they  were  "  small  eat- 
ers "  and  economic  feeders.  Had  they 
ordered  for  us  three  without  my  assist- 
ance, the  dinner  would  not  have  cost 
less  than  four  or  five  dollars,  and  with 
a  plethora  of  food  on  the  table  all 
would  have  felt  it  necessary  to  eat  as 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    289 

much  as  possible,  in  order  to  get  value 
received. 

The  above,  as  related,  was  an  actual 
happening,  but  it  in  no  way  indicates 
what  another  trio  would  have  ordered 
in  response  to  their  appetites.  That  is 
immaterial.  The  principle  of  consult- 
ing the  leanings  of  appetite  is  the  thing 
of  first  importance,  and  giving  appetite 
a  chance  to  naturally  discriminate  is 
the  second  natural  requirement.  Had 
the  weather  been  cooler,  and  had  the 
appetite  earned  been  like  that  of  a 
labouring  man,  more  food  and  more 
variety  might  have  been  required  to 
satisfy  appetite,  and  hence  the  needs 
of  the  body.  In  that  case,  after  plying 
the  appetite  to  repletion  on  the  first 
dish  ordered,  a  second  or  a  third  could 
easily  have  been  added.  With  this 
principle  of  learning  the  real  demands 
of  appetite,  any  number  of  combina- 
tions can  be  had  for  variety.  In  sum- 
mer, with  light  physical  exercise,  very 
little  proteid-bearing  food  is  needed ;  but 
19 


290    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

in  winter,  with  vigorous  exercise  or  hard 
physical  labour,  the  appetite  will  crave 
foods  that  have  proteid  and  fat  whether 
one  knows  what  proteid  is  or  the  differ- 
ence between  carbohydrate  elements  and 
fat.  Any  empirical  idea  of  the  pos- 
sible elemental  requirements  is  likely  to 
lead  to  false  suggestion  and  do  harm. 
It  is  difficult  to  stand  by  and  let  Nature 
do  the  ordering  if  there  is  too  much 
elemental  intelligence,  and  that  is  where 
the  animals,  when  allowed  free  choice 
of  food,  get  on  better  with  their  nutri- 
tion than  man  himself,  and  man's  only 
protection  is  to  carefully  heed  the  deli- 
cate discrimination  of  appetite.  This 
is  not  a  difficult  thing  to  do,  for  appe- 
tite can  be  easily  satisfied  within  a 
small  range  of  simple  foods. 

With  any  desired  variety  of  sumptu- 
ous food  to  choose  from,  and  no  re- 
straint from  any  cause  whatever,  the 
author  fed  himself  nine- tenths  of  the 
time  during  the  examination  at  Yale 
University,  in  cold  winter  weather,  on 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    29 1 

griddle  cakes  well  buttered  and  ac- 
companied with  an  abundance  of  ma- 
ple syrup.  Occasionally  more  proteid 
would  be  demanded,  —  say  once  a 
week,  or  once  in  five  days,  —  and 
then  baked  beans  was  the  preferential 
choice. 

I  am  now  relating  the  experiences  of 
a  student  of  hygienic  epicureanism  and 
am  not  considering  money  economy 
alone.  Were  mental  or  even  physical 
improvement  in  efficiency  to  be  pur- 
chased at  high  prices,  and  lack  of  effi- 
ciency could  be  had  for  nothing,  the 
high-priced  article  would  be  well  worth 
its  cost,  no  matter  what  it  might  be,  for 
the  reason  that  total  lack  of  efficiency 
is  equivalent  to  death  and  any  propor- 
tionate lack  is  the  next  thing  to  death. 
Hence  it  is  not  a  money  economic  re- 
form that  is  being  advocated,  and  this 
must  be  borne  in  mind. 

When  I  am  in  New  York  I  very  often 
take  a  room  at  the  Waldorf-Astoria  be- 
cause it  has  become,  by  common  con- 


292    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

sent,  the  suburban  and  country  business 
and  social  clearing  house  of  the  whole 
United  States  ;  and  hence,  coming 
from  Europe  periodically  as  I  do,  and 
always  anxious  to  meet  old  friends  from 
San  Francisco,  New  Orleans,  Boston, 
Washington,  the  great  cities  of  the 
Middle  West,  or  elsewhere,  it  is  more 
easily  accomplished  by  camping  at  the 
Waldorf  than  in  any  other  way.  I 
cannot  be  a  profitable  guest  of  this  or 
any  hotel  kept  on  the  European  plan, 
but  I  try  to  make  up  for  this  defi- 
ciency in  other  ways.  Just  across  Sixth 
Avenue  from  the  Waldorf,  on  Thirty- 
Fourth  Street,  is  one  of  the  most  pre- 
tentious of  the  so-called  "  dairy  lunches." 
In  these  places  good,  appetising,  whole- 
some food  is  served  quickly  and  in 
decently  small  portions.  For  this  very 
reason  alone,  I  prefer  the  crowd  and 
the  noise  of  the  dairy  lunch  to  the 
quiet  and  the  luxury  of  the  Waldorf 
cafe  or  dining-room.  One  would  not 
object  to  paying  a  larger  price  at  the 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    293 

more  quiet  place  of  service,  but  prodi- 
gality seems  to  be  the  present  great 
American  sin.  Were  it  a  mere  waste 
of  money  or  even  of  the  food,  it  would 
not  be  worthy  of  great  discussion ;  for 
when  the  fool  and  his  money  are  parted 
the  laugh  is  on  him  with  no  grain  of 
sympathy,  and  there  already  being  a 
great  surplus  of  food  in  the  land,  there 
is  no  fear  of  famine.  But  with  this 
prodigality  prevalent,  so  that  to  have  a 
decent  variety  one  must  have  put  before 
him  enough  for  a  family,  the  temptation 
to  grossly  overeat  is  great  and  the  abuse 
is  criminal. 

It  is  the  hope  of  the  author  that 
some  enterprising  Boldt  will  inaugu- 
rate an  epicurean  service  and  charge 
well  enough  for  it  to  pay  for  the 
trouble,  or  better  yet,  in  proportion  to 
the  quantity  wanted.  In  this  regard 
the  poor  do  not  suffer  directly,  but  the 
example  of  the  rich  is  the  perverter  of 
the  poor  in  many  ways,  and  surely  in 
this  item  of  dietetic  abuse. 


294    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

When  it  comes  to  quantities  of  food 
to  be  prescribed,  the  author  avoids  giv- 
ing even  suggestions.  This  has  been 
the  trouble  with  the  past  attempts  at 
reform.  Had  Luigi  Cornaro  told  us  in 
his  autobiography  the  manner  of  taking 
his  food  with  other  particulars,  instead 
of  giving  alone  a  maximum  weight  to 
which  he  limited  himself,  he  might  have 
saved  the  world  three  hundred  years  of 
uncertainty  and  confusion.  His  twelve 
ounces  of  solid  food  and  fourteen  ounces 
of  new  wine  (fresh  grape  juice)  means 
little.  The  solid  food  might  have  been 
almost  water  free  or  might  have  con- 
tained 50  per  cent  of  moisture.  The 
new  wine  contained  a  trifle  of  sugar 
and  probably  more  than  95  per  cent  of 
water  and  supplied  moisture  to  the  body 
instead  of  water.  During  the  Yale  tests 
reported  elsewhere,  and  more  fully  in  the 
"A.  B.-Z.  of  Our  Own  Nutrition,"  the 
daily  ration  did  not  exceed  the  reported 
amount  of  Cornaro,  even  with  the  most 
generous  allowance  for  moisture. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    295 

I  have  steadily  refused  to  prescribe 
by  weight  or  quantity  or  to  suggest  the 
best  kinds  of  foods  for  any  one,  but 
there  are  so  many  questions  arising 
from  the  publicity  already  given  by  the 
Yale  experiment,  that  it  will  do  no 
harm  to  give  some  outline. 


296    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 


DIET  IN   THE 

YALE   EXAMINATION  OF  THE 
AUTHOR 

In  the  first  place  the  selection  of  food 
for  this  test  is  no  basis  of  general  choice. 
The  analysis  of  food  for  its  elemental 
molecule  values,  and  for  its  heat  con- 
tent, is  a  very  difficult  thing  to  do  and 
takes  much  time  ;  hence  to  bring  a  large 
variety  into  a  diet  during  a  test  would 
entail  enormous  labour  on  the  labora- 
tory staff.  Knowing  this  difficulty,  when 
I  was  requested  to  choose  something 
which  would  entirely  satisfy  my  sense  of 
taste  gratification  so  as  to  best  stimu- 
late the  flow  of  the  digestive  juices,  I 
chose  a  cereal  with  a  known  content 
value.  That  is  to  say,  I  fed  from  differ- 
ent brands  of  cereals,  the  content  value 
of  which  was  known.  A  quart  of  fresh 
milk  a  day  furnished  the  moisture  re- 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    297 

quired,  and  was  not  every  day  entirely 
consumed.  Maple  sugar  was  the  most 
variable  ingredient  of  the  diet  in  regard 
to  quantity.  Of  the  milk  I  took  nearly 
or  quite  one  quart  each  day,  of  the 
cereal  I  averaged  about  150  grams,  or 
say  5  ounces,  and  the  demand  for  the 
sugar  varied  from  150  grams  to  200 
grams,  or  say  5-7  ounces. 

This  food  was  taken  in  at  two  meals 
daily, —  12-1  and  6-7  P.M.,  —  and  the 
time  required  in  taking  was  12-14 
minutes  to  the  meal,  including  any 
delay  necessitated  in  taking  notes  and 
in  weighing  the  food.  These  delays 
were  inconsiderable,  however,  as  facili- 
ties for  weighing  and  taking  notes  were 
perfected  and  their  use  well  accustomed 
by  the  subject.  The  26  —  28  minutes 
per  day,  then,  may  be  set  down  as  the 
careful  but  industrious  eating  time  re- 
quired to  satisfy  the  waste  and  appetite 
of  a  man  doing  'Varsity  Crew  work,  as 
reported  by  Dr.  Anderson  and  Pro- 
fessor Chittenden. 


298    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

The  activity  outside  the  prescribed 
gymnasium  exercises  and  any  supple- 
mentary work  consisted  of  awaking  very 
early  in  the  morning  and  doing  con- 
siderable writing  upon  my  typewriter. 
The  agitation  of  this  nutrition  investi- 
gation has  involved  an  immense  amount 
of  correspondence  to  keep  the  interest 
stimulated,  and  for  the  exchange  of 
information  between  the  interested  par- 
ties; hence  in  addition  to  serving  as 
test-subject,  there  was  always  much  else 
to  do  to  keep  from  getting  hopelessly 
behind  in  the  work. 

The  writing  began  anywhere  from 
four  to  six  in  the  morning  in  winter, 
which  was  the  season  of  the  test,  and 
continued  until  about  seven  or  eight, 
when  the  exercises  were  commenced 
and  continued  until  finished.  Mean- 
time the  mail  of  the  morning  had  come 
in  and  frequently  demanded  immediate 
attention,  which  used  up  the  time  until 
between  twelve  and  one  o'clock,  when 
a  first-class  appetite  had  been  earned 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    299 

(no  craving  of  hunger  or  "  all-goneness  " 
in  the  common  form  due  to  the  persist- 
ence of  habit  hunger),  and  this  insured 
a  keen  appreciation  of  taste  and  fulfilled 
all  the  requirements  of  a  healthy  diges- 
tion. The  afternoon  was  always  busy, 
sometimes  with  a  lengthy  walk  around 
town,  or  a  game  of  billiards  when  the 
weather  discouraged  outside  work.  The 
evenings  were  strenuous  or  restful,  and 
were  usually  employed  with  conversa- 
tion, reading,  or  a  lecture. 

Fortunately  the  simple  food  selected 
continued  to  be  agreeable  to  the  end, 
and  cost  an  average  of  only  eleven  cents 
per  day.  When  it  was  given  up  to 
accommodate  the  service  furnished  by 
social  meals  it  was  missed,  the  habit  of 
supply  having  become  somewhat  fixed 
and  expected  by  appetite. 

In  London,  in  search  of  the  lowest 
possible  economy,  the  author  has  sub- 
sisted on  about  half  the  cost  of  the 
Yale  supply ;  and  it  is  entirely  possible 
to  those  needing  strictest  economy. 


300    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 


INFLUENCE  OF  SUGGESTION 

A  friend  of  the  author,  who  is  an 
enthusiast  in  regard  to  the  profitable- 
ness of  an  economic  nutrition  in  assist- 
ing the  strenuous  life,  went  to  lunch 
with  a  generous  host  in  New  York  the 
other  day,  when  the  following  conversa- 
tion about  the  lunch  to  be  ordered  was 
heard.  It  partook  of  Wall-Street  brev- 
ity, which  is  thought  to  be  necessary  in 
the  rush  of  a  mid-day  snack  or  meal. 

"What  will  you  have?  What!  only 
a  baked  potato  and  a  bottle  of  ginger 
ale  ?  All  right  for  a  starter ;  but  what 
are  you  really  going  to  have?  Nothing 
more !  what  is  the  matter  with  you  ? 
Come,  now ;  tell  me  what  you  want  for 
lunch  ?  Stocks  are  badly  off,  but  I 
have  n't  reached  the  starvation  point  yet. 
Don't  treat  me  like  that  when  I  'm  trying 
to  treat  you  right  and  white.  Brace  up, 
old  man,  and  have  something  to  eat." 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    301 

The  intermediate  replies  can  be 
imagined  as  in  an  overheard  telephone 
conversation. 

The  host  ordered  for  himself,  as 
usual,  a  portion  of  tongue  and  a  gen- 
erous garniture  of  side  dishes,  and 
watched  his  guest  with  amused  toler- 
ance. The  lunch  proceeded,  inter- 
larded with  talk  about  topics  of  mutual 
interest,  and  when  a  final  halt  was 
called  the  host  had  not  taken  more 
than  one-quarter  of  his  cold  tongue  and 
very  sparingly  of  the  accompanying 
side  dishes.  The  guest  had  finished 
one  of  his  'baked  potatoes,  and  had 
sipped  his  ginger  ale  enjoyingly,  but 
had  not  taken  more  than  half  of  the 
pint  ordered.  The  appetites  of  both 
host  and  guest  were  amply  satisfied, 
but  without  any  of  the  heaviness  which 
follows  an  unrestrained  "  hearty  "  meal. 
In  tones  of  surprise  the  one-sided  con- 
versation, relative  to  the  strangeness 
of  the  proceeding,  continued  as  follows: 
"  Well,  I  '11  be  switched !  How  in  Wall 


302    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

Street  did  that  happen  !  I  have  n't 
eaten  half  my  usual  lunch,  and  yet  I 
have  killed  my  appetite  deader  than 
the  Ship  Building  Trust.  I  'm  blessed 
if  I  can  understand  it.  The  blamed 
thing  is  uncanny.  I  don't  believe  it 's 
true,  but  I  'm  satisfied  all  right  even 
if  I  am  hypnotised.  Come  and  lunch 
with  me  every  day.  You  're  engaged 
as  a  regular  companion  boarder,  and 
Freddie  will  pay  the  freight.  You  're 
cheaper  than  nobody.  Come  again ! 
Come  again !  !  Come  always !  !  !  " 

The  above  is  not  an  unusual  case. 
The  personal  influence  of  the  author 
and  of  his  active  colleagues  has  been 
visibly  noted  among  parties  where  there 
was  no  sympathy  with  the  "  starving 
fad,"  and  where  there  was  even  stub- 
born opposition  to  the  thought  of  such 
a  thing.  But  these  same  groups  of 
non-interested  objectors  have  visibly 
decreased  their  accustomed  lunches  and 
dinners,  and  some  of  them  have  found 
that  a  cup  of  coffee  and  a  roll,  the 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    303 

same  as  is  habitually  taken  in  Europe, 
outside  England,  serves  as  a  breakfast 
better  than  the  full  meat  affair  formerly 
taken.  They  persist  in  declaring  that 
they  are  not  influenced  by  the  chewing 
suggestion,  but  they  show  signs  of  some 
restraining  influence,  and  observation 
reveals  that  in  such  groups  the  common 
annual  and  quarterly  attacks  of  illness 
are  less  frequently  or  less  severely 
suffered. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  Luigi  Cornaro 
gave  appreciative  attention  to  his  four 
three-ounce  meals  a  day,  and  in  giving 
attention  properly  insalivated  his  food. 
The  inference  is  warranted.  A  man 
full  of  vigour  and  health  and  con- 
structive energy  such  as  Cornaro 
reports  that  he  had  in  unusual  abun- 
dance is  not  likely  to  confront  a 
three-ounce  ration  of  delicious  food 
and  proceed  to  bolt  it  as  a  dog  bolts 
a  piece  of  stolen  meat.  It  is  a  matter 
of  easy  observation  that  a  child  given 
a  single  piece  of  sugar  or  sweet  in 


304    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

any  form  will  make  it  last  as  long  as 
possible  and  get  all  of  the  taste  out 
of  it  by  most  ingenious  conservation ; 
but  the  same  child,  if  offered  a  box 
of  "  goodies  "  as  it  is  passed  around,  or 
whenever  the  time  given  for  possession 
of  its  contents  is  limited,  will  show  the 
greed  of  a  predatory  or  hunted  or 
habitually  maltreated  animal  and  will 
not  only  grab  as  much  as  possible  but 
will  cram  all  possible  into  his  stomach 
to  satisfy  the  sense  of  greed,  and  then 
usually  suffers  the  consequences  of  the 
double  sin  in  the  sickening  re-taste  of 
the  gases  of  indigestion. 

Cornaro  undoubtedly  made  his  three- 
ounce  meals  last  as  long  as  possible  in 
order  to  enjoy  the  maximum  of  taste, 
and  in  so  doing  satisfied  the  natural 
requirements  of  appreciative  attention 
and  thorough  insalivation.  In  like 
manner  two  small  tumblers  of  the 
fresh  grape  juice  (new  wine  —  fourteen 
ounces),  which  he  took  as  his  sapid 
liquid  in  the  course  of  a  day  in  con- 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    305 

nection  with  his  four  meals,  would 
allow  only  a  sherry  glass  quantity  to 
each  meal,  and  with  such  a  limited 
supply  a  person  is  not  likely  to  toss 
off  the  liquid  in  great  gulps  as  water 
is  drunk  to  satisfy  thirst,  but  it  rather 
would  be  enjoyed  as  the  wine-tasters 
enjoy  wine,  by  their  sipping  practice, 
in  pursuit  of  their  profession.  The 
influence  of  visible  supply  or  of  pass- 
ing or  permanent  opportunity  of  posses- 
sion is  a  most  powerful  suggestion  in 
the  cultivation  of  economy  or  prodigal- 
ity, of  greed  or  moderation,  of  healthy 
nouriture  or  plethoric  indigestion. 

Man  was  constructed  and  intended 
to  hunt  his  food  among  the  grains, 
nuts,  roots,  and  other  fruits  of  earth, 
and  in  hunting  food  to  earn  a  keen 
appetite.  He  found  his  food  scattered 
and  ate  it  as  he  found  it,  with  the  true 
appreciation  that  difficulty  of  posses- 
sion gives.  In  the  primitive  state  the 
requirements  of  natural  digestion  are 
safeguarded;  but  with  a  plethora  of 


306    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

food  cooked  and  spiced  and  furnished 
with  superfacilities  for  ingestion,  the 
natural  protection  of  difficulty  is  re- 
moved, and  the  victims  of  the  luxury 
drop  unconsciously  into  habits  of  abuse, 
like  the  overeating  of  to-day. 

In  order  to  escape  the  surrounding 
temptations  it  is  necessary  to  have 
always  in  mind  protective  counter-sug- 
gestions which  intelligently  make  use 
of  the  abundant  and  easy  supply  but 
limit  the  intake  to  the  needs  of  the 
body  as  expressed  by  appetite  when 
permitted  to  discriminate  in  its  natural 
deliberate  manner,  and  which  only  keeps 
pace  with  the  natural  dissipation  of 
taste  in  the  process  of  requisite  insali- 
vation.  The  chewing  practice  is  but 
a  means  to  this  natural  end,  but  it  is 
a  most  important  means,  the  same  now 
as  when  teeth  were  used  instead  of 
patent  grinders,  and  when  taste  took 
the  place  of  spices  and  sauces  and 
manufactured  its  own  delights  by  the 
chemical  action  of  saliva. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    307 

Among  the  Zuni  Indians,  observed 
by  even  recent  travellers,  it  is  the  cus- 
tom of  the  young  girls  of  the  pueblos  to 
masticate  wheat  up  to  a  given  point  of 
sweetness  of  taste  and  then  to  withdraw 
it  from  the  mouth  and  collect  it  in  a 
wooden  dish  until  a  sufficient  quantity 
is  secured,  when  the  jaw-ground  and 
saliva-sweetened  "  mess  "  is  baked  in  the 
sun  or  by  fire  and  becomes  the  "  sweet 
cake  "  of  the  family.  The  change  of 
the  starch  of  the  wheat  or  corn  into 
sugary  dextrose  by  the  action  of  saliva, 
which  is  necessary  to  be  done  some- 
where in  the  alimentary  canal  before 
it  is  assimilable  nutriment,  gives  the 
sweet-cake  quality  to  the  food  which 
is  the  dietary  delicacy  of  these  primitive 
people.  By  proper  insalivation  we  per- 
form the  delectable  service  for  ourselves 
instead  of  having  it  done  for  us  by 
good  young  teeth  aided  by  healthy 
saliva  furnished  by  beautiful  feminine 
assistance. 


308    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 


"FLETCHERISING"   FOOD 

WHAT    IT    REALLY    MEANS 

The  term  "  Fletcherising,"  or  "  Fletch- 
erizing,"  as  applied  to  food  has  come 
into  use  without  the  suggestion  of  the 
nominee  to  a  new  filtering  fame,  and 
promises  to  spread;  hence  it  is  well  to 
explain  just  what  the  term  means. 

Under  the  so-called  "  Fletcherizing  " 
process,  the  mouth  becomes  a  filter 
with  most  facile  appliances  for  protect- 
ing the  delicate  alimentary  canal  from 
straining  and  poisoning.  Instead  of  the 
"  Pasteur  Filter  "  for  the  purification  of 
water  and  the  "  pasteurisation  "  of  foods 
by  sterilisation,  the  "  Fletcher  Filter " 
both  separates  and  prepares  whatever 
is  given  it  to  treat  more  perfectly  than 
any  mechanical  or  chemical  device  can 
do. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    309 

Dr.  Kellogg  appears  in  evidence  often 
in  this  volume,  and  also  with  much  ap- 
preciated strength  of  indorsement  in 
the  "  A.  B.-Z.  of  Our  Own  Nutrition  "; 
but  it  is  because  he  knows  the  value  of 
the  discovery  of  the  natural  food  filter, 
has  enormous  chance  to  test  it  practi- 
cally, and  generously  assists  the  reform 
with  the  might  of  his  conviction.  Hence 
the  author  has  still  another  letter  of  his 
in  hand  from  which  to  quote. 

"  BATTLE  CREEK,  MICH.,  Oct.  26,  1903. 
"MR.  HORACE  FLETCHER,  NEW  YORK. 

"  DEAR  FRIEND  :  —  I  have  yours  of 
October  4th.  I  should  have  answered  it 
before,  but  have  been  away  from  home. 

"  I  appreciate  very  much  your  offer 
to  send  me  a  memorandum  of  the  work 
done  in  Cambridge,  also  a  plan  of  the 
work  at  Yale.  You  have  had  a  most 
interesting  experience  with  eminent 
physiologists,  and  it  has  led  you  deep 
into  the  question  of  nutrition.  I  shall 
appreciate  very  much  suggestions  from 


310    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

you  with  reference  to  subjects  for  ex- 
perimental work,  and  other  suggestions 
which  may  occur  to  you  respecting  the 
methods,  etc.  I  am  sure  your  wide  ex- 
perience will  be  a  great  help  to  us. 
The  more  I  test  your  ideas  the  more 
confidence  I  have  in  them. 

"  What  you  say  about  the  wonder- 
ful effect  of  mastication  is  certainly  cor- 
rect. I  observed  it  right  away  as  soon 
as  I  began  to  practise  Fletcherizing. 
By  the  way,  I  wrote  an  article  for 
the  last  number  of  my  journal,  GOOD 
HEALTH,  about  "  Fletcherizing "  food, 
and  I  see  our  colleagues  are  already 
taking  it  up.  One  of  my  most  able 
associates,  Dr.  J.  A.  Read,  who  has 
charge  of  our  sanitarium  in  Philadel- 
phia, gave  a  lecture  last  Thursday  night 
to  his  patients  on  "  Fletcherizing  "  food, 
and  his  audience  was  greatly  interested. 
I  am  sure  you  deserve  to  have  your 
name  immortalised,  as  Pasteur's  has 
been.  I  mention  "  Fletcherizing "  in 
almost  every  lecture  I  give  to  our 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    311 

patients.  I  think  most  of  our  patients 
are  "  Fletcherizing "  and  are  getting 
great  good  from  it,  also  a  large  propor- 
tion of  our  six  hundred  nurses  and 
other  employees. 

"  Awaiting  a  letter  of  suggestions  at 
your  convenience,  I  remain, 

"  As  ever  your  friend, 
"(Signed)  J.  H.  KELLOGG." 

"  Fletcherizing "  does  not  consist 
only  and  merely  of  careful  chewing. 
Careful  chewing,  with  cheerful  atten- 
tion, will  secure  the  comminution,  in- 
salivation,  and  all  necessary  chemical 
preparation  for  perfect  digestion,  and 
will  separate  hard  and  indigestible  mat- 
ter from  the  food  mass  put  into  the 
mouth  for  treatment;  but  it  is  the 
whole  environment  of  the  act  which 
counts  the  best  results. 

Cheerfulness  is  as  important  as  chew- 
ing ;  and  if  persons  cannot  be  cheerful 
during  a  meal  they  had  better  not  eat. 
Not  eating  will  not  hurt  them  in  the 


312    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

least,  but  lack  of  cheerfulness  will  defeat 
the  object  of  the  meal  by  causing  more 
or  less  indigestion ;  and  hence  it  not 
only  does  no  good  to  eat  when  not  cheer- 
ful^ bitt  actually  does  harm.  Haste  and 
lack  of  cheerfulness  are  about  the  same 
in  effect  on  digestion.  You  have  no 
idea  how  much  real  nutriment  you  can 
get  into  your  system  in  five  minutes  if 
you  are  industrious  with  your  munch- 
ing and  are  cheerful  about  it ;  so  don't 
hurry  when  you  have  full  ten  minutes, 
or  perhaps  twenty  minutes,  for  taking 
nourishment. 

You  cannot  go  faster  than  Nature 
will  let  you,  and  it  is  profitable  to  study 
Nature  and  watch  her  constantly  for 
her  proper  cue.  Don't  try  to  get  ahead 
of  her  or  you  may  sink  in  mud  or  into 
deep  water. 

Hence  the  author  begs  of  those  who 
heed  his  suggestions,  especially  if  they 
give  them  his  name,  to  respect  them 
in  all  their  essentials.  Don't  chew  any- 
thing when  you  are  mad  or  when  you 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE    313 

are  sad,  but  only  when  you  are  glad 
that  you  are  alive  and  glad  that  you 
have  the  appetite  of  a  live  person  and 
one  that  is  well  earned. 

That  is  as  much  a  part  of  the 
"  Fletcherizing  "  process  as  munching, 
and  one  should  never  forget  it. 

So,  please,  when  you  "  Fletcherize," 
if  you  "  Fletcherize  "  at  all,  do  it  well 
and  completely  and  do  not  half  do  it 
and  then  condemn  the  method.  The 
method  is  all  right,  notwithstanding  the 
name  which  has  been  attached  to  it,  for 
it  is  simply  Nature's  method. 


Explanation   of  The   A.  B.  C. 
Life   Series 

THE  ESSENTIALS  AND  SEQUENCE  IN  LIFE 

It  would  seem  a  considerable  departure 
from  the  study  of  menticulture  as  advised 
in  the  author's  book,  "  Menticulture,"  to 
jump  at  once  to  an  investigation  of  the 
physiology  and  psychology  of  nutrition  of 
the  body  and  then  over  to  the  department 
of  infant  and  child  care  and  education  as 
pursued  in  the  creche  and  in  the  kinder- 
garten ;  but  as  a  matter  of  fact,  if  study 
of  the  causation  of  human  disabilities  and 
misfortunes  is  attempted  at  all,  the  quest 
leads  naturally  into  all  the  departments  of 
human  interest,  and  first  into  these  primary 
departments. 

The  object  of  this  statement  is  to 
link  up  the  different  publications  of  the 
writer  into  a  chain  of  consistent  sugges- 
tions intended  to  make  life  a  more  simple 
[315] 


Explanation  of  The  A.  B.  C.  Life  Series 

and  agreeable  problem  than  many  of  us 
too  indifferent  or  otherwise  inefficient  and 
bad  fellow-citizens  make  of  it. 

It  is  not  an  altogether  unselfish  effort 
on  the  part  of  the  author  of  the  A.  B.  C. 
Life  Series  to  publish  his  findings.  In  the 
consideration  of  his  own  mental  and  physi- 
cal happiness  it  is  impossible  to  leave  out 
environment,  and  all  the  units  of  humanity 
who  inhabit  the  world  are  part  of  his  and 
of  each  other's  environment. 

It  would  be  rank  presumption  for  any 
person,  even  though  gifted  with  the  means 
to  circulate  his  suggestions  as  widely  as 
possible,  and  armed  with  the  power  to 
compel  the  reading  of  his  publications, 
to  think  that  any  suggestions  of  his  could 
influence  any  considerable  number  of  his 
fellow-citizens  of  the  world,  or  even  of  his 
own  immediate  neighbourhood,  to  accept 
or  follow  his  advice  relative  to  the  man- 
agement of  their  lives  and  of  their  com- 
munal and  national  affairs ;  but  while  the 
general  and  complete  good  of  humanity 
should  be  aimed  at  in  all  publications, 
one's  immediate  neighbours  and  friends 


Explanation  of  The  A.  B.  C.  Life  Series 

come  first,  and  the  wave  of  influence 
spreads  according  to  the  effectiveness  of 
the  ideas  suggested  in  doing  good ;  that 
is,  in  altering  the  point  of  view  and  con- 
duct of  people  so  as  to  make  them  a  better 
sympathetic  environment. 

For  instance,  the  children  of  your 
neighbours  are  likely  to  be  the  playmates 
of  your  own  children,  and  the  children  of 
degenerate  parents  in  the  slum  district 
of  your  city  will  possibly  be  the  fellow- 
citizen  partners  of  your  own  family.  Again, 
when  it  is  known  that  right  or  wrong  nu- 
trition of  the  body  is  the  most  important 
agent  in  forming  character,  in  establish- 
ing predisposition  to  temperance  or  intem- 
perance of  living,  including  the  desire  for 
intoxicating  stimulants,  it  is  revealed  to 
one  that  right  nutrition  of  the  community 
as  a  whole  is  an  important  factor  in  his 
own  environment,  as  is  self-care  in  the 
case  of  his  own  nourishment. 

The    moment   a  student  of   every-day 

philosophy  starts   the  study  of   problems 

from    the  A.   B.   C.  beginning  of  things, 

and  to  shape  his  study  according  to  an 

[317] 


Explanation  of  The  A.  B.  C.  Life  Series 

A.  B.  C.  sequence,  each  cause  of  inhar- 
mony  is  at  once  traced  back  to  its  first  ex- 
pression in  himself  and  then  to  causes 
influenced  by  his  environments. 

If  we  find  that  the  largest  influences 
for  good  or  bad  originate  with  the  right 
or  wrong  instruction  of  children  during 
the  home  training  or  kindergarten  period 
of  their  development,  and  that  a  dollar 
expended  for  education  at  that  time  is 
worth  more  for  good  than  whole  banes 
of  courts  and  whole  armies  of  police  to 
correct  the  effect  of  bad  training  and  bad 
character  later  in  life,  it  is  quite  logical 
to  help  promote  the  spread  of  the  kinder- 
garten or  the  kindergarten  idea  to  include 
all  of  the  children  born  into  the  world, 
and  to  furnish  mothers  and  kindergarten 
teachers  with  knowledge  relative  to  the 
right  nutrition  of  their  wards  which  they 
can  themselves  understand  and  can  teach 
effectively  to  children. 

If  we  also  find  that  the  influence  of  the 
kindergarten  upon  the  parents  of  the  in- 
fants is  more  potent  than  any  other  which 
can  be  brought  to  bear  upon  them,  we  see 


Explanation  of  The  A.  B.  C.  Life  Series 

clearly  that  the  way  to  secure  the  widest 
reform  in  the  most  thorough  manner  is 
to  concentrate  attention  upon  the  kinder- 
garten phase  of  education,  advocate  its 
extension  to  include  even  the  last  one  of 
the  children,  beginning  with  the  most 
needy  first,  and  extending  the  care  out- 
ward from  the  centre  of  worst  neglect  to 
finally  reach  the  whole. 

Experience  in  child  saving  so-called, 
and  in  child  education  on  the  kinder- 
garten principle,  has  taught  the  cheapest 
and  the  most  profitable  way  to  insure 
an  environment  of  good  neighbours  and 
profit-earning  citizens  ;  and  investigation 
into  the  problem  of  human  alimentation 
shows  that  a  knowledge  of  the  elements  of 
an  economic  nutrition  is  the  first  essential 
of  a  family  or  school  training ;  and  also 
that  this  is  most  impressive  when  taught 
during  the  first  ten  years  of  life. 

One  cannot  completely  succeed  in  the 
study  of  menticulture  from  its  A.  B.  C. 
beginning  and  in  A.  B.  C.  sequence  with- 
out appreciation  of  the  interrelation  of 
the  physical  and  the  mental,  the  personal 
[3<9] 


Explanation  of  The  A.  B.  C.  Life  Series 

and    the   social,  in    attaining  a  complete 
mastery  of  the  subject. 

The  author  of  the  A.  B.  C.  Life 
Series  has  pursued  his  study  of  the 
philosophy  of  life  in  experiences  which 
have  covered  a  great  variety  of  occupa- 
tions in  many  different  parts  of  the  world 
and  among  peoples  of  many  different 
nations  and  races.  His  first  book,  "  Men- 
ticulture,"  dealt  with  purging  the  mind 
and  habits  of  sundry  weaknesses  and  de- 
terrents which  have  possession  of  people 
in  general  in  some  degree.  He  recog- 
nised the  depressing  effect  of  anger  and 
worry  and  other  phases  of  fearthought. 
In  the  book  "  Happiness,"  which  followed 
next  in  order,  fearthought  was  shown  to  be 
the  unprofitable  element  of  forethought. 
The  influence  of  environment  on  each 
individual  was  revealed  as  an  important 
factor  of  happiness,  or  the  reverse,  by 
means  of  an  accidental  encounter  with  a 
neglected  waif  in  the  busy  streets  of 
Chicago  during  a  period  of  intense 
national  excitement  incident  to  the  war 
with  Spain,  and  this  led  to  the  publication 
t  32°  ] 


Explanation  of  The  A.  B.  C.  Life  Series 

of  "  That  Last  Waif ;  or,  Social  Quaran- 
tine." During  the  time  that  this  last 
book  was  being  written,  attention  to  the 
importance  of  right  nutrition  was  invited 
by  personal  disabilities,  and  the  experi- 
ments described  in  "  Glutton  or  Epicure  ; 
or,  Economic  Nutrition  "  were  begun  and 
have  continued  until  now. 

In  the  study  of  the  latter,  but  most 
important  factor  in  profitable  living,  cir- 
cumstances have  greatly  favoured  the 
author,  as  related  in  his  latest  book, 
"  The  A.  B.-Z.  of  Our  Own  Nutrition." 

The  almost  phenomenal  circulation  of 
"  Menticulture "  for  a  book  of  its  kind, 
and  a  somewhat  smaller  interest  in  the 
books  on  nutrition  and  the  appeal  for 
better  care  of  the  waifs  of  society,  showed 
that  most  persons  wished,  like  the  au- 
thor, to  find  a  short  cut  to  happiness  by 
means  of  indifference  to  environment, 
both  internal  and  external,  while  habitu- 
ally sinning  against  the  physiological 
dietetic  requirements  of  Nature.  In  smoth- 
ering worry  and  guarding  against  anger  the 
psychic  assistance  of  digestion  was  stimu- 

21  [32IJ 


Explanation  of  The  A.  B.  C.  Life  Series 

lated  and  some  better  results  were  thereby 
obtained,  but  not  the  best  attainable 
results. 

Living  is  easy  and  life  may  be  made 
constantly  happy  by  beginning  right;  and 
the  right  beginning  is  none  other  than 
the  careful  feeding  of  the  body.  This 
done  there  is  an  enormous  reserve  of 
energy,  a  naturally  optimistic  train  of 
thought,  a  charitable  attitude  towards 
everybody,  and  a  loving  appreciation  of 
everything  that  God  has  made.  Morbid- 
ity of  temperament  will  disappear  from  an 
organism  that  is  economically  and  rightly 
nourished,  and  death  will  cease  to  have 
any  terrors  for  such  ;  and  as  fear  of  death 
is  the  worst  depressant  known,  many  of 
the  worries  of  existence  take  their  ever- 
lasting flight  from  the  atmosphere  of  the 
rightly  nourished. 

The  wide  interest  now  prevalent  in 
the  subjects  treated  in  The  A.  B.  C.  Life 
Series  is  evidenced  by  the  scientific,  mili- 
tary, and  lay  activity,  in  connection  with 
the  experiments  at  the  Sheffield  Scientific 
School  of  Yale  University  and  elsewhere, 
[322  ] 


Explanation  of  The  A.  B.  C.  Life  Series 

as  related  in  the  "  A.  B.-Z.  of  Our  Own 
Nutrition  "  and  in  "  The  New  Glutton  or 
Epicure "  of  the  series. 

The  general  application  is  more  fully 
shown,  however,  by  the  indorsement  of 
the  great  Battle  Creek  Sanitarium,  which 
practically  studies  all  phases  of  the  sub- 
ject, from  health  conservation  and  child 
saving  to  general  missionary  work  in 
social  reform. 

HORACE   FLETCHER. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     325 


INSTRUCTIONS  ISSUED  BY  THE  UNITED 
STATES  ARMY  MEDICAL  DEPARTMENT 
FOR  THE  STUDENTS  OF  THE  ARMY 
MEDICAL  SCHOOLS 

METHOD  OF  ATTAINING  ECONOMIC  ASSIMILATION 
OF  NUTRIMENT  AND  IMMUNITY  FROM  DIS- 
EASE, MUSCULAR  SORENESS,  AND  FATIGUE 

1.  Feed  only  when  a  distinct  appetite  has 
been  earned. 

2.  Masticate  all  solid  food  until  it  is  com- 
pletely liquefied  and  excites  in  an  irresistible 
manner  the  swallowing  reflex  or  swallowing 
impulse. 

3.  Attention  to  the  act  of  mastication  and 
insalivation,  and    appreciation   of   the   taste 
thereby  secured,  are  necessary,  meantime,  to 
excite    the    flow   of    gastric    juice    into    the 
stomach  to  meet  the  food,  as  demonstrated 
by  Pawlow. 

4.  Strict  attention  to  these  two  particulars 
will  fulfil  the  requirements  of  Nature  relative 
to  the  preparation  of  the  food  for  digestion 
and  assimilation;    and   this    being  faithfully 
done,  the  automatic  processes  of  digestion 
and  assimilation  will  proceed  most  profitably 
and  will  result  in  discarding  very  little  diges- 
tion-ash (feces)  to  encumber  the  intestines 
or  to  compel  excessive  draft  upon  the  bodily 
energy  for  excretion. 


326    THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

5.  The  evidence  of  this  economy  is  ob- 
served in  the  small  amount  of  excreta  and  its 
peculiar,  inoffensive  character,  showing  escape 
from  putrid  bacterial  digestion  such  as  brings 
indol  and  skatol  into  evidence  offensively. 

6.  When  the   digestion   and    assimilation 
has  been  normally  economic  the  digestion- 
ash  should  be  formed  into  little  balls  ranging 
in  size  from  a  pea  to  a  so-called  Queen  Olive, 
according  to  the  food  taken,  should  be  quite 
dry,  and  have  only  the  odour  of  moist  clay  or 
a  hot  biscuit.     This  inoffensive  character  re- 
mains indefinitely  after  excretion  until  the  ash 
completely  dries  or  disintegrates  like  rotten 
stone  or  wood. 

7.  The  weight  of  the  digestive-ash  should 
range  (moist)  from   10  grams  a  day  to  not 
more  than  40-50  grams  a  day,  according  to 
the  food ;   the  latter  estimate  being  based  on 
a  vegetarian  diet  and  may  not  call  for  excre- 
tion for  many   days  (3   to  8) ;    infrequency 
indicating  best  conditions.     The  aseptic  con- 
dition of  the  excreta  renders  retention  in  the 
intestines  quite  harmless  and  gives  opportu- 
nity for  perfect  assimilation  of  the  nutriment. 

8.  Fruits  may  hasten  peristalsis,  but  not 
necessarily,  if  they  are  thoroughly  treated  in 
the  mouth   as  sapid  liquids  rather   than  as 
solids,  and  are  insalivated,  sipped,  tasted,  into 
absorption  in  the  same  way  wine  tasters  test 
and  take  wine  and  tea  tasters  test  tea.     The 
latter  spit  out  the  tea  after  tasting,  as  other- 
wise it  vitiates  their  taste  and  ruins  them  for 
their  discriminating  profession. 


THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE     327 

9.  Milk,  soups,  wines,  beer,  and  all  sapid 
liquids  or  semi-solids  should  be  treated  in 
this   manner    for   the   best   assimilation  and 
digestion  as  well  as  for   the  best  gustatory 
results.     The  care  recommended  will  reduce 
the   quantity  tolerable  by  the  appetite  and 
lead   to    habits    of  healthy  temperance,  but 
secures  maximum  satisfaction. 

10.  This  would  seem  to  entail  a  great  deal 
of  care  and  bother  and  lead  to  the  waste  of 
time. 

11.  Such,  however,  is  not  the  case.     To 
restore  the  natural  protective  reflexes  in  the 
beginning  does  require  strict  attention  and 
persistent  care  to  overcome  life-long  habits 
of  nervous  haste,  but  if  the  attack  is  earnest 
the  habits  of  mouth-treatment  and  appetite 
discrimination  soon  become  fixed  and  guide 
the  deliberation  in  taking  food  unconsciously 
to  the  feeder. 

12.  Food  of  a  proteid  value  of  5-7  grams 
of   nitrogen    and    1500-2000   k.   calories   of 
fuel  value,  paying  strict  attention  to  the  ap- 
petite for  selection  and  carefully  treated  in 
the  mouth,  has  been  found  to  be  the  quantity 
best  suited  to  metabolic  economy  and  effi- 
ciency of  both  mind  and  body  in  sedentary 
pursuits  and  ordinary  business  activity;  and, 
also,  such  habits  of  economy  have  given  prac- 
tical immunity  from  the  common  diseases  for 
a  period  extending  over  more  than  five  years, 
whereas  the  same  subject  was  formerly  sub- 
ject to  periodical  illness.     The  same  economy 
and  immunity  have  shown  themselves  consist- 


328     THE  NEW  GLUTTON  OR  EPICURE 

ently  in  the  cases  of  many  test  subjects, 
covering  periods  of  three  years,  and  applies 
equally  to  both  sexes,  all  ages,  and  other 
idiosyncratic  conditions. 

13.  The  time  necessary  for  satisfying  com- 
plete body  needs  and  appetite  daily,  when  the 
habit  of  attention,  appreciation,  and  delibera- 
tion have  been  installed,  is  less  than  half  an 
hour,  no  matter  how  divided  as  to  number  of 
rations.     This  necessitates  industry  of  masti- 
cation, to  be  sure,  and  will  not  admit  of  waste 
of  much  time  between  mouthfuls. 

14.  Ten  minutes  will  completely  satisfy  a 
ravenous  appetite  if  all  conditions  of  ingestion 
and  preparation  are  favourable. 

15.  Both  quantitive  and  qualitive  supply 
of  saliva   is   an   important  factor   in   buccal 
(mouth)  preparation  of  nutriment,  but  atten- 
tion to  these  fundamental  requirements  soon 
regulates  the  supply  of  all  of  the  digestive 
juices,  and,  in  connection  with  the  care  rec- 
ommended above,  insures  economy  of  nutri- 
tion, and,  probably,  immunity  from  disease. 

(Signed)  HORACE  FLETCHER. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

405  Hilgard  Avenue,  Los  Angeles,  CA  90024-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library 

from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


APR  0  1 199e  HI 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


A     000  809  828     7 


GLU  FTONoR 


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